The Ballad of Pyrrha Nikos and Handsome Jaune
by JAloysiusBarnesley
Summary: A What-If tale of a red-haired spartan and a suave and handsome jerkass. A tale of Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc, if the latter was actually Handsome Jack's (Borderlands 2) illegitimate child. Follows Vol 1-7 . With obvious differences. Humor and Adventure with Good OCs and Pop Culture/Music references. Caution: It gets weird.
1. Air Shipping

**The Ballad of Pyrrha Nikos and Handsome Jaune**

_**A What-If tale of a red-haired spartan and a suave and handsome jerkass. A tale of Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc, if the latter was actually Handsome Jack's bastard child. An Arkos fanfic written because somebody made me. Begins in Vol. 1 and Ends whenever I feel like it has to, but since I'm being forced to write this, it might never end. Italics in quotes are "Thoughts" by characters. Enjoy, because I'm not. **_

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Chapter 1: Air-shipping

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Pyrrha Nikos, a red-haired spartan-esque girl 17 years old stood stoic on the deck of the airship headed towards her new home for the next four years: Beacon Academy. Pyrrha was slender and her long red hair hung behind her in a long ponytail, she wore her usual brown and gold bodice, a set of long gloves, her red sash, and her small red skirt hid her under-shorts. Her long golden boots extended up to her knees. Her weapons, Milo and Akouo hung from her back and belt respectively. Her vibrant green eyes were accented by a golden gorget around her neck and another golden circlet on her head. Small green gemstones hung from her circlet behind her ears.

Pyrrha looked out of the window in front of her, the gorgeous green landscape of Vale passed by, small towns, a few villages, other normal people working and living far below the grand airship toiled tirelessly. She wondered what that life would've been like. Pyrrha was the greatest and most well-known future Huntress in her home of Argus. She hated it. She was held aloft above everyone else due to her skill in combat, heralded as the next great thing. Prophecies told of her _destiny, _songs were sung in her honor.She had a line of clothing, collectibles and even cereal. Most would bask in the limelight of fame, but Pyrrha just shuddered every time someone recognized her; they never truly saw who she was, just what everyone said she was supposed to be. She quietly hoped that Beacon Academy would have other similarly skilled students and she could just fade into the crowds. She _had _heard that the Schnee Heiress was attending and perhaps that would draw some attention from the Mistrali Regional Tournament winner.

She turned and watched the other students on their way to the great academy. An explosive blond-haired girl grabbed and playfully tossed a smaller black-haired girl around like a rag-doll. They were probably, hopefully either best friends of sisters. The blond girl seemed a little too friendly. A rather handsome blond-haired boy vomited into a nearby trashcan. Despite his apparent airsickness, he was actually attractive and had dirty blond hair, a chiseled jawline, pointed eyebrows currently twisted into a grimace, high cheekbones and an angular nose. His eyes were shut tight in between the various retches, but she imagined them being brilliant and exotic. His armor was fairly normal run-of-the-mill plate and he wore a bog-standard heater shield on his back. He was surrounded by suitcases with a prominent 'H' on them. After a few heavy retches, he attempted to stagger back onto his feet, but promptly tripped over his own luggage and landed in a heap, eyes wide in embarrassment. His eyes were blue and green in heterochromia, and exotic. Pyrrha stifled a laugh and went back to her view of Vale. The ship was getting close to docking and a hologram of Professor Glynda Goodwitch began to welcome them to the academy. Tomorrow was another day.

Pyrrha Nikos avoided everyone as she ran off to the great hall. Despite her hopes that nobody would recognize her, they did and they all wanted her autograph or something. She hurriedly ran past the other students and headed off to await Headmaster Ozpin's opening speech.

A few meters back, Jaune Arc of Hyperion Weapons and Technology of Atlas struggled to move his dozen or so suitcases off the airship. He cursed incoherently, the Schnee Dust girl had brought with her several aides and helpers to carry her stuff, but his father had claimed that he was never going to amount to anything unless he did it himself. He _did_ supply several 'Clappers', a few small square robots with no coordination to assist him. They failed. After having to physically lift the small redundant robots up the stairs, they rolled off haphazardly with his luggage. He hoped nothing got broken, Hyperion tech was incredibly expensive and was superior to pretty much everything on the market outside of Atlas. He sighed and walked over to the Academy Square. A small girl was being thrashed by Weiss Schnee of the aforementioned Dust company before being left in the dirt outside. He went and introduced himself.

"Hello. I'm Jaune Arc, Heir to Hyperion of Atlas. I am the next big thing.", he said confidently.

"Oh. Uhhm. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you?", the girl stuttered.

Ruby Rose was a lot younger than all of the other students as Jaune noticed. He wondered how such a young girl managed to get to Beacon Academy. It didn't really matter, his own transcripts were forged by his Father. Jaune was destined to become a Huntsman even if he utterly failed at it; he was to become to new face of Hyperion.

Ruby and Jaune walked the courtyards. He knew he had to be making his way to the great hall, but this little distraction was welcomed.

"So... I've got this thing!", Ruby said as she unleashed her weapon. Jaune had to step back slightly.

"That's a scythe.", he said.

"It's also a high-impact custom sniper rifle! So what have you got?", She exclaimed.

"Oh well... I have this shield. It's called the 'Bee'. It amplifies damage of any gun I use. I also have this!", Jaune said as he pulled a large black and red shotgun from his back. "It's called the_ Restructuring Conference Call_. It'll fire 5 shots all at once, and then those 5 shots turn into twice the amount turning my enemies into paste!"

"That's _amazing!_ What else does it do?", Ruby beamed.

"The blade on the end extends and turns the shotgun into a 'bastard' sword. Yeah, it's pretty bad-ass. But not as bad-ass as my diamond encrusted pony back home.", Jaune bragged.

"You have a pony? I want a pony! What's its name?", Ruby said in glee.

"Uhhhh... Well... I call it Butt-Stallion? Because it has a shiny butt?", Jaune said.

"Oh. That's awesome! Hey, do you know where we're going?", Ruby asked as they walked farther into the gardens.

"Oh yeah. We're supposed to be at the great hall. Um.. like right now.", Jaune said.

The smaller girl pulled away and ran off back to the academy square. They were going to be late for Headmaster Ozpin's speech! Oh no! Jaune followed with haste. At least he'd made one new friend on his first day. Maybe he'd make more.

"Yeah. We could paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about boys, like tall dark and stupid over there!", Weiss Schnee said as she pointed to Jaune. He looked at her in surprise, he wasn't stupid, maybe just a little lost outside of his home, but definitely not stupid. He briefly wondered if he was ever going to meet a nice quirky girl like that one he met earlier. It still didn't matter, as long as he did well in school and became a Huntsman, then he'd succeeded and had full access as Heir to Hyperion. He did want to make some new friends, though. Friends were good.

"...It is up to you, to take the first step...", Jaune had missed a lot of Ozpin's speech. He was too busy considering his life choices. What exactly he'd done to end up in this position. He was an only child to a wealthy Atlas businessman and thus the heir to the empire. He had a few dozen cousins and extended family, but they weren't nearly as famous as his father's company. Tassiter Arc had built Hyperion from the ground up as the best and most reliable arms company on the planet. Jaune had to live up that that even if he didn't grasp the finer details of running a company. His father acted like a dictator over the employees and ruled the company with a titanium fist. Jaune would succeed. He would own Hyperion one day.

**Welp, that's the end of the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it more than I did. Jaune is going to become more of an asshole the longer this goes on, so don't expect him to be the plucky and clumsy comic relief, he's going to become Handsome Jaune over time before he eventually becomes Handsome Jacques completely. I've already got Vol. 3 outlined, so expect some mayhem. **


	2. The First Pleb

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Chapter 2: The First Pleb

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Jaune walked through the locker rooms. Apparently the lockers could be sent to wherever they were with rockets. He ignored Ruby Rose for now, she was talking to a rambunctious blond-haired girl and seemed more in touch with her own weapon than other people. His locker was numbered 636, which was awfully high.

"So, Pyrrha! Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?", Weiss asked the Spartan. "I'm sure everyone is clamoring to be on your team, since you're a strong and well-known individual!"

"Well... I'm not sure. I was planning on letting _destiny_ decide.", Pyrrha noted.

"Oh. Well, I was thinking we could be on a team together!", Weiss stated.

"That sounds... grand...", Pyrrha said sheepishly.

"Great!", Weiss said before she went into an internal-monologue. Pyrrha just shied away from the white-haired girl. She was a little weird.

Jaune interrupted both of them, one in shame and the other in surprise.

"You know what else is great? Greater than even Schnee Dust? Me. I'm Jaune Arc of Hyperion. Pleasure to meet you.", Jaune said to the spartan.

Weiss just looked at the young man. He was a competitor to her father's company. He was also one of the richest in Atlas. A team between the two of them would ensure that Schnee and Hyperion would rule the financial world.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!", Weiss beamed.

"Yeah okay. Whatever...", Jaune said as he brushed the heiress aside.

"So... Uh.. .Red, been hearing rumors about teams. How about you and I? We'll be unstoppable!". Jaune said, forgetting the Spartan's name.

"So, Jaune, right? I think the teams are comprised of 4 members...", Weiss said. "And besides, do you even know who 'Red' is?", Weiss stated.

"Not really.", Jaune noted.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos, She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Crunch box!", Weiss snapped. "She's a nobody! Not like you and I, heirs to an empire!"

"Oh, hey! That's you? I thought they only reserved that space for cartoon characters and like, athletes and stuff!", Jaune said in recognition of the red-haired spartan.

"So after realizing all of this, who do you think is a better partner? A cereal mascot or the heiress to the largest Dust company in the world?", Weiss stated.

"I'd have to go with Pyrrha. She's a fighter, after all. She's not like me, another heir to a company. And I think I know why you want the two of us to be on a team together, Schnee.", Jaune stated.

"Well, I think you'd be a great leader, Jaune.", Pyrrha noted.

"Oh yeah. You've got the brawn and I've got the brains.", Jaune noted.

"Oh stop. We'll be a great team, Jaune.", Pyrrha said.

"Yes. Please stop. This behavior shouldn't be encouraged.", Weiss complained.

"Yeah, I dunno. I think Pyrrha is on board with Team Jaune. How about you?", Jaune stated. "Spots are filling up quick, but I might be able to pull some strings and get you a sponsorship!"

"Urrgh! Fine. Be that way!", Weiss said as she huffed and walked away.

An announcement blared through the speakers in the locker room. "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation!",

"I guess that's our call. See you on the flip-side, Red.", Jaune stated.

"Good luck, Jaune!", Pyrrha called. "It was nice meeting you!".

The first year class stood on the cliff sides outside of the Academy. They overlooked the Emerald Forest far below. Everyone stood on a platform embossed with Beacon Academy's crest. Time to fly.

"...That being said. The next person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years...", Ozpin said.

Jaune just looked to the row of students. It was him, Ruby, The girl he was told was called Yang, some guy who looked like a walking asshole, two weird possibly-in-a-relationship students, and then Pyrrha Nikos. He got into position, pulled his shotgun _Conference Call_ and stood at the ready. They were being launched into the air and were to make their own landings.

"...You will be graded and monitored for the duration...", Ozpin continued. Jaune just sighed, the old man just talked and talked for hours on end, never taking a breath. It was really quite hypnotic.

"_Right, land, find the old piece of junk and get back. Easy Peasy.", _Jaune thought.

"...Are there any questions?", Ozpin asked. Jaune wanted to say something witty, but just stayed silent as the first few students were launched. Then it was his turn.

Jaune was launched, he aimed his shotgun backwards, firing to keep himself aloft in the air. He shot past Yang and Ruby as the blond-haired girl flew through the air with similar propulsion. He eyed the falling red-haired girl and aimed himself towards her. She was his target now.

Pyrrha braced herself for impact with her shield forwards, hitting and breaking through several trees before landing gracefully on a branch. She pulled her weapons and swapped the one into a rifle to survey the landing students. She looked around for Jaune, expecting him to be tumbling through the air, but he wasn't visible in her sights. She just sighed heavily before something slammed into her back and knocked her off the tree branch and down onto the forest floor. Pyrrha landed in a heap, face first in the dirt next to the tree trunk. A heavy weight slammed her into the ground.

Jaune flew as best as he could towards the Spartan. He had no real way of flying, just using the recoil from his shotgun to propel himself. He looked behind and fired, flying in a vague direction towards the skilled fighter. It was only after he'd seen her land that he'd realized he had no way of stopping. This was going to hurt.

Jaune slammed into the red-haired girl ass first, hitting the Spartan in the back and causing the two of them to tumble to the forest floor in a heap. Pyrrha hit the ground first, landing sprawled out in a heap. Jaune promptly landed on her shield, which was currently attached to her back. _"First day, and I've already crushed my competition. Literally."_ he thought. He carefully got up off the Spartan as she laid on the ground in agony.

"H-Hey, Pyrrha. Uh... Sorry about that.", Jaune apologized.

The Spartan just propped herself up on her arms before standing and turning to him.

"Well, I guess that counts as a landing strategy.", she said as she dusted herself off.

Gunfire filled their ears. "I think that means some of our friends have encountered opposition. We should move.", Jaune noted as he pulled Pyrrha off into the forest.

The duo ran into the forest towards the sounds of gunfire and battle. Pyrrha leaped through some brush, the branches pulling back with her movement. The bent branches flew back and knocked Jaune off his feet.

"Agh. Dammit!", he cursed.

"Oh! Jaune, I'm sorry... I...", Pyrrha apologized as she watched the scratches on his face heal almost instantly. "Your Aura..."

"My what?", he asked.

"Do you... Know what Aura is, Jaune?", Pyrrha asked back.

"Of course I do. Do you know what Aura is?", he responded.

"Aura is the manifestation of our Soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts.", Pyrrha noted.

"Well that's a relief. You know, you don't wear much armor, right? I hope your Aura is strong enough to literally shield _your_ heart since it's nice and exposed right there.", Jaune said as he pointed to her armor. "Wouldn't want a sword or arrow or something to hit you there. Then you'd be like... extra dead.", he laughed.

"Well... I... Uh...", Pyrrha stammered. "I'm a skilled fighter. Any more armor would limit my motions."

"Keep telling yourself that, Red. I'm sure you'll see that sniper shot that just happens to miss your armor entirely. For fox sake, wear some more armor!", Jaune said.

"Jaune, just close your eyes for a moment. Let me feel your Aura.", Pyrrha said.

"_Oh she's going to feel a lot more than just Aura if this goes any further..._" Jaune thought, but he humored her anyways.

"Oh! Oh, you have a lot of Aura. It's incredible. You're like a god! I've never seen or felt an Aura like yours.", Pyrrha exclaimed. Jaune just eyed her with a sideways glance. Whatever. He's a god. He's the Helios to Hyperion. He just chuckled under his breath as the red-haired spartan stepped back.

"Yeah, I get it. Fantastic. You're praising me. Good for you. Let's get going, Red.", Jaune said mockingly. Pyrrha pouted slightly and followed the blond-haired boy farther into the forest. The gunfire had subsided and they'd walked to a nearby cliff. A cave entrance stood just before them.

"You think the relic is in there, Red? I'm going in.", Jaune said as he waltzed into the cave.

"I... I don't think-", Pyrrha was cut off, a loud roar filled the cave.

"You're right, Red! This isn't the ruins! Let's go!", Jaune said as he ran past the Spartan. Pyrrha followed him out of the cave and whatever horror inside awoke and burst through the small entrance and followed them outside.

Outside the cave, a rabid scorpion-like Grimm burst forth from the small cave entrance. A Deathstalker! Jaune and Pyrrha readied their weapons. Jaune shot first, _Conference Call_ blasting at their enemy. All of his shots bounced off the creature's carapace and ricocheted back towards them.

"Jaune! Stop firing! You're not doing any damage!", Pyrrha called.

"Well, you're the world-renown fighter! Fight it!", Jaune said.

"I can't do anything to that! It's resisting our attacks! We need to run!", Pyrrha stated.

"Good idea.", Jaune said as he high-tailed it out of dodge and back into the forest, leaving Pyrrha to her imminent demise.

Pyrrha just stared after Jaune, he was a very fast runner. She looked at the Deathstalker as it clicked its pincers and began to approach her. This wasn't going to end well. She just scratched her head and adjusted her circlet before running after the blond-haired boy. This wasn't a fight she could win.

She ran as fast as she could away from the Grimm that was nipping at her heels. It roared again, before it attempted to skewer her from behind with its tail. Pyrrha dodged sideways and rolled to her feet avoiding a killing blow. She looked around for Jaune, but he'd disappeared. She heard more gunfire in the distance and ran towards the sound instead. A claw suddenly whipped her feet out from under her as she was tossed to the ground landing face up and watched the golden tail began its fatal descent through her armor. Perhaps Jaune was right, she really didn't have enough protection. Pyrrha crossed her arms in an attempt to block the gigantic Grimm's stinger. She felt a pressure on her ankle.

"Sorry, Red. Can't let you die out here!", Jaune noted as he grabbed her left foot and yanked her along with him. "Whuuh?", The stinger missed Pyrrha's chest by a few feet. Jaune continued to pull her along; he was actually rather strong.

The duo ran towards the clearing, an old stone temple in the foothills. Jaune, still holding onto Pyrrha's ankle, turned and threw the red-haired girl towards the temple with the might of a giant. Pyrrha landed as gracefully as she could next to the other two students who just stared at them in surprise. "Did he just run all the way here while dragging you and avoiding a killer deathstalker?", Yang asked.

"Maayyybee?", Pyrrha noted.

Jaune turned and faced the Deathstalker again. It reared back and roared in his face. He pulled another weapon from his belt, this one a small dagger. He hit a switch on the side of the dagger and transformed it into its true form, a dark red sub-machine gun etched with hash marks representing kills and the short blade of the dagger just under its barrel. Jaune back-flipped, mimicking Pyrrha's dodge maneuvers, and began to fire. "Meet the _Cutting Edge Bitch_, you bitch!", he shouted at the Grimm as he fired. The gun's accuracy tightened as he fired longer and longer. Bullets bounced off the carapace again, so he aimed towards the glowing golden tail stinger instead. The deathstalker roared in pain. "I've got you now!"

"Jaune!", Pyrrha shouted as she ran to his side. She missed Weiss Schnee falling to the ground behind her, the snooty heiress caught by Yang and Ruby and avoiding the loss of dignity by eating dirt. Jaune dual-wielded _Cutting Edge Bitch _and _Conference Call_, despite only holding the machine-gun with one hand, his accuracy stayed true. The shotgun fired wildly with splitting shots flying all over the place, striking the now loose stinger. "Pyrrha!", Jaune called. The spartan threw her shield out like a discus, hitting the stinger and severing it. It fell and pierced the upper carapace of the deathstalker.

"Here comes Flower Power!", an orange-haired girl shouted as she descended from the sky.

"Nora! Wait!", a stoic ninja-esque boy shouted as he ran over to her.

Nora plummeted, landing hammer first on the deathstalker and pounding its stinger through its own body in a killing blow. "Aww. I broke it.", Nora said sadly. "Awww Ren! That was awesome!"

"Nora... Please...", Ren said out of breath.

A dark shadow swooped across the field. The Nevermore that had been carrying the other two girls was back and attacking. Ruby Rose ran from its attack in a panic.

"Well, it looks like the bitch came back.", Jaune noted before pulling out _Cutting Edge_ again and aiming for the Grimm bird.

"Jaune, you can't hit it with that! You're too far away!", Pyrrha said.

"Really? Because this is a Hyperion gun. It can hit anything.", Jaune said as he opened fire on the Nevermore. His accuracy tightened again after missing the first few shots and he peppered the flying monster with a few dozen shots. The Grimm turned around at the attack and began to swoop down on Jaune and friends. The blond-haired boy pulled out his shotgun again and double-pumped it. "Nora, get ready to smash. Pyrrha and Ren, give it everything you've got.", Jaune commanded as he opened fire.

"Back-blast clear!", Jaune shouted as gunfire and the sounds of his friends' attacks promptly turned the Nevermore into the equivalency of a pound of ground beef hit with a tennis racket at mach 2. Jaune quickly surveyed the scene around him before falling into maniacal and uncontrollable laughter. "We won! We're the greatest team ever! Take that, Schnee! Aahhahahahahaa...", he cackled. The rest of his team went and grabbed the 'relics' they were supposed to be bringing back. Pyrrha grabbed two, saving one for their future team leader as he convulsed in laughter behind them.

High above in the cliff sides, Ozpin and Goodwitch watched the progress of the two teams.

"Professor Ozpin, I'm not sure about Jaune Arc. His transcripts stated-", Goodwitch said before being cut off.

"I'm aware of what his transcripts stated. He has already proven himself. Only time will tell otherwise.", Ozpin noted.

"I hope you're right. That boy seems a little... unhinged.", Goodwitch stated watching the combat.

**Chapter 2 is done. Woo Hoo. Next few chapters, Jaune becomes a man and makes Cardin his bitch. Pyrrha falls in love with the bastard child of Handsome Jack. For people who are actually reading this, imagine Jaune's nasally voice replaced with Handsome Jack's voice. It works wonders.**


	3. The Badger and the Burlesque

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Chapter 3: The Badger and the Burlesque

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"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. You retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forwards, you will work together as Team JNPR. Lead by Jaune Arc.", Ozpin stated.

"Oohhh. Yes... Yes! Ahahahaa!", Jaune cackled.

"Err. Congratulations, young man.", Ozpin stated apprehensively.

"And finally, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forwards you will work together as... Team RWBY. Lead by Ruby Rose!", Ozpin announced. Weiss Schnee visibly pouted in the announcement of her new team leader.

"Err yes. It looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year.", Ozpin concluded.

The next morning, Pyrrha was awoken from her restful sleep by a whistle from next door. Team JNPR's dorm was directly across the hall from Team RWBY. She attempted to fall back asleep but was shaken awake not by her teammates, but by the sounds of heavy construction equipment coming from RWBY's dorm. She gave up and got dressed for the day. She didn't need to wear her armor during classes and instead dressed in the mandated uniform. She kept her hair tied up in her traditional long pony-tail and pulled her circlet down upon her brow. Jaune was still asleep and drooling into his pillow. Pyrrha gently shook him awake.

"Aww... What time is it...", Jaune mumbled.

"It's... 8:54am.", Pyrrha noted.

"Aww shit! Aw sheeiiit! We're gonna be late, girl! We gonna be late for class!", Jaune shouted as he ran from the room at mach speed. Pyrrha just stared at the cloud of dust as Jaune ran from the dorm room. He was a really fast runner. She gathered her thoughts and ran after him. Ren was carried out of the dorm half-asleep by Nora who also ran after their leader in a flurry.

In 'Class', Team JNPR sat silently listening to Professor Port recount his adventures in Grimm Hunting and Refusing to Bathe. Apparently the stench of an unbathed man could keep the Grimm and anyone else away from you in the field. Which was why sponge-baths with baby-wipes were his preferred method of cleanliness. It showed. Badly. Jaune was busy writing in his notebook. Nora and Ren kept each-other company and were also taking notes on what the stinky old professor was saying and Pyrrha just sighed and looked at her Team Leader. She knew all of this already. She hadn't graduated top of her class for nothing. Jaune turned and showed off his 'notes'.

He had drawn a stick figure of Pyrrha with a dozen arrows embedded into her chest. A small caption read, 'I don't need any more armor!'. Pyrrha wanted to facepalm, but that would've been too obvious, instead she just smiled and adjusted her circlet a bit. Jaune turned the page and showed off another drawing, it was similar with the stick figure having its limbs ripped off by stick-Grimms. Another caption read, 'I'm a good fighter!'. Jaune just smiled like an idiot as he sensed Pyrrha's annoyance.

Professor Port had announced a combat trial. Pyrrha missed the opportunity to prove herself since she was too busy looking at Jaune's mocking drawings. Instead, Weiss Schnee, the prissy little heiress had stepped up to the task.

"Oh hohoho. This is going to be good. Anyone taking bets?", Jaune mocked as Weiss walked down the stairs to the caged Grimm.

"Alright! Let the match... Begin!", Professor Port announced. The small Grimm was unleashed and stalked its prey around the classroom.

"Hey, Schnee! Aim for its carapace! It's the weakest spot! It's made of marshmallows and fairy dust!", Jaune mocked. Weiss just shot him a glare.

"Hang in there, Weiss!", Ruby called not hearing Jaune's mockery.

Weiss lunged with her rapier and promptly got it stuck in the beast's tusks. This was going well. Her sword was thrown from her hands.

"Hey, if you die, can I have all of your stuff?", Jaune mocked.

"Oh, Weiss! Aim for its belly!", Ruby called still not hearing Jaune's mockery.

Weiss did exactly what Ruby said, conjuring a few glyphs to knock the beast backwards and then stabbed into its weak spot. The entire time she gave Jaune a death-glare.

"Oh ho! So we are in the presence of a Huntress! Class dismissed!", Port announced.

Weiss stared at Jaune with the fury of a thousand suns before she walked out of the classroom in anger.

"Oh geez. What's with her?", Nora noted, completely oblivious to the exchange between the Heiress and their Team Leader.

Team JNPR filed into the hall. There was still time for breakfast and Nora pulled Ren along to go and find it, the stoic boy flailing helplessly as he was dragged from sight like a rag-doll. Pyrrha and Jaune were left alone to wander the halls.

"What do you mean, I need more armor? I already told you it would hinder my motions!", Pyrrha said.

"I mean, you need some kind of protection on your chest and shoulders. You've got like this... 'cleavage window', which is nice to look at, but it's not nice to look at when you've got 2 dozen arrows embedded in it and you're dead. Wear some chain-mail or something! You're fighting for your life, you're not in a tournament!", Jaune stated.

"I... I'm a skilled fighter! I don't need armor!", Pyrrha defended.

"Famous last words. What if you get knocked around by an opponent with an ax? He's got free range to just cut your arms off at the shoulder. What about a skilled archer? You've got an arrow through your chest, into your heart and now you're deader than dead! For fox sake, Pyrrha, just wear some kind of light chain-mail, it really won't hinder your movement that much and it'll pay off in the end!", Jaune said exasperated.

"That will never happen, Jaune! I have my Semblance! I can control metal! I'll never take a hit!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Oh well, that's a relief. What if you can't see what's about to hit you? Or what if you're too weak to use your Semblance? Then you get skewered, get your arms cut off, or get intimately familiar with the dirt as it covers your body in a nice memorial to the 'Girl Who Tried'.", Jack stated.

"Well... I..."

"You see now? Right? I've got a Semblance too. It's amplification. Of what, I have no idea. I just know it's not like my Uncle McDiarmid's 'Unlimited Powaaahhh' semblance with the elements and stuff. We can't rely just on our abilities. We need the correct armor and gear for the task. And as much as I like seeing you in that little brown bodice, I'd like to see you alive.", Jaune concluded.

He was right after all. Pyrrha wore basic armor, enough to protect her and enough for fan-service. Perhaps if she wore a bit more armor, she wouldn't have to deal with all the creepy fans wanting to bump into her and rub awkwardly against her. It would be a sacrifice she'd have to make. You're either hot or you're dead. Pyrrha sighed and pulled up her Scroll. She logged into her Whamazon account and began to browse armor enhancements. She looked at a set of 'Trevali Arms Nanofibre Mesh' chain-mail. It was heavily discounted and the reviews raved of its protection and flexibility. She quickly hit the 'Purchase Now' button and went on with her day. Jaune was right. He was always right. And perhaps he'd save her life one day.

"Hey. Combat Class is next. You want to see me kick some ass? The _Bitch_ is hungry, Pyrrha. Let's go feed it.", Jaune said.

Pyrrha just followed Jaune down to the Combat Hall. Today was going to be interesting.


	4. Malice

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Chapter 4: Malice

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Cardin Winchester breathed heavily. Jaune was a formidable fighter. The larger man swung with his mace and missed, Jaune blocking it easily. Jaune was using _Conference Call_ in its bastard sword form with Cardin's weapon held vertically, Jaune kicked the boy in the gut and sent him reeling before switching back to shotgun mode. He aimed and fired, peppering the larger boy with a hail of flechettes that split into bird-shot. Cardin stumbled, his other teammates taken down by the incredibly accurate fire from _Cutting Edge Bitch_ that quickly made them all his bitch. Jaune swept a foot forwards, tripping Cardin and causing the brute to land on his side, mace tumbling out of his reach. Jaune just aimed _Conference Call_ at the boy's face, ready to end it all.

The lights turned on. The match was over. "That's enough.", Goodwitch announced.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Winchester's Aura has dropped dangerously low. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Cardin is no longer fit for battle and the official may call the match. Cardin, it has been weeks now, please refer to your scroll during combat, it will tell you when your Aura is too low and when you should fight or defend. We wouldn't want you pulverized by an Ursa now would we?" Goodwitch concluded.

Jaune got up into Cardin's face as the large man stumbled off the stage. "You're my bitch now, got it?", Cardin just whimpered in acknowledgment as he limped away.

"Remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away! Students from the other kingdoms will be arriving in Vale so be sure to give them a warm welcome to our Academy!", Goodwitch announced. "Those who choose to compete in the tournament will be representing all of what Vale has to offer! Dismissed!"

Team JNPR and RWBY ate lunch together. Jaune was busy stabbing viciously at his steak.

"Jaune, are you okay?", Pyrrha asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine. Just peachy!", Jaune answered.

"Well, it's just that you seem a little... not fine...", Ruby stated.

"Nope, everything is good! Did you see how I kicked Cardin's ass?", Jaune stated.

Cardin Winchester shot Jaune a look and then pouted at his table, his hair being pulled by a rabbit Faunus and his armor defaced by other Faunus students. Cardin's armor was now decorated in a rainbow of cocks. As in roosters. Lots and lots of roosters.

"Jaune, you've been picking on Cardin Winchester since the first day of school.", Blake said.

"Cardin? He's just a clown. He likes to joke around!", Jaune defended.

"You're a bully, Jaune.", Weiss noted.

"Okay, sure. Name one time I've 'bullied' him!", Jaune said confidently.

Team RWBY relayed various times Jaune had bullied Cardin. Covering the larger boy's weapons with butter, pranking him with ice-water above his door and culminating in sending the poor boy into orbit with his own rocket-propelled locker.

"Ahh... Well... He didn't land far from the school!", Jaune defended.

"You're being a jerk, Jaune.", Blake said.

"Ah well, it's not like I'm the only one who bullies him! Look at those Faunus!", Jaune said as he pointed out the herd of goat Faunus taking turns to ram him.

"Point taken...", Ruby said. "We should try to be his friend. Friends are good."

"Right... Yeah, I can't imagine a worse friend than someone like that. He can't really do anything except spout off reasons why Faunus are sub-par human beings. And he's great at getting his ass kicked when he talks too much. Look at that over there, there's a bear Faunus throwing him like a rag-doll!", Jaune mocked as Cardin was thrown over their table and into a cart full of sweets. Sticky candies covered the pathetic warrior as he tried to recover from his fall. Cardin was quickly grabbed again by another group of Faunus and promptly got his ass beaten seven ways to Sunday. The Faunus weren't entirely wrong in their beatings either, Cardin Winchester was a massive racist and never knew when to shut up.

"Yeah... I guess you're right, Jaune.", Ruby said as she watched the other Faunus kick the snot out of Cardin. "I guess you just called him some names and joked around. At least you're not over there beating him up."

"It's still not very nice. Maybe we should invite him out for training someday?", Pyrrha mused. She watched Velvet Scarlatina force-feeding Cardin a handful of carrots while he spat racist remarks back at the rabbit Faunus. "Or maybe not... Definitely not... He'd just slow us down."

Blake had disappeared, previously scolding Jaune for picking on Cardin, she was now recording the Faunus students beating on him with her Scroll. "World-Star!", Blake shouted as a chair was broken over the prone boy's back. The Faunus students didn't hold back until Professor Goodwitch came and dragged all of them off to reprimand them. Blake sat back down and replayed the beating over and over in sadistic glee.

"What? He's a racist. It's bad when you bully him, Jaune, but you don't know what it's like to be a Faunus.", Blake said defensively.

"What, and you do? You don't look like a Faunus yourself, Blakey.", Jaune responded.

"Wha- I'm not a Faunus. I'm just an activist for Faunus Rights!", Blake said, her bow twitched slightly.

"Yeah... Sure... Okay...", Jaune said taking notice of the moody girl's twitchy bow.

"Come on, guys. It's time for Dr. Oobleck's class. We should go.", Ren stated.

Team JNPR and RWBY both headed off from the mess hall, Oobleck's class was going to be intense due to the teacher's odd... habits. They hurried down the hallways and quickly took their seats in the auditorium. Cardin Winchester arrived slightly late, his face and body covered in bruises, candies, and drawings of cocks. As in roosters. Lots of roosters.

Jaune had zoned out during class. Oobleck was teaching them history, particularly the Faunus Revolution. He already knew about this already. It was a long drawn-out battle of attrition that ended with the Faunus gaining basic rights, but not true equality throughout the world. Racism was still an issue and the White Fang took achieving equality into their own hands, starting as a peaceful group and evolving into a world-feared terrorist organization. Dr. Oobleck darted around the classroom at speeds close to breaking the sound barrier. Jaune imagined the 'Benny Hill' theme playing in his head as he watched the strange man fly around.

"Ah! Cardin Winchester! Why don't you tell us what advantage the Faunus had during their ambush at night?", Oobleck asked.

"I don't know? They were trained well? It's easier to train an animal than a soldier anyways.", Cardin said.

"Your obvious racism will not be tolerated! See me after class!", Oobleck barked. "Does anyone else know the answer? Jaune Arc! Why don't you join the discussion!"

"The Faunus had night vision. The proposed ambush failed because many Faunus have either enhanced vision at night or better vision than a human. The loser that attacked in the middle of the night wasn't expecting this ability because he was short-sighted and lazy.", Jaune said apathetically.

"Ah, very good, Mr. Arc! You are going to do well in this class!", Oobleck commended.

Oobleck rambled on for a long time recounting history and the mistakes of the past and how everyone could learn from it. He shuddered at the sound of the dismissal bell and shooed everyone except Cardin out of the auditorium. Team RWBY headed off to wherever 4 teenage girls went and left JNPR in the hallways. A loud and fast-paced lecture began in the auditorium behind them. Cardin was getting beaten to death with words.

"Ooh! The cafeteria has dinner pancakes! We can still get some! Come on Ren!", Nora shouted as she dragged the helpless boy along with her. Pyrrha and Jaune were left alone again.

"Jaune, you really know your stuff, don't you?", Pyrrha said.

"Oh yeah. I studied hard to get here. Just need a little more practice with my guns and then it's smooth sailing for me!", he replied.

"Practice? I have an idea. Follow me!", Pyrrha said as she pulled Jaune around the corner and up some stairs.

Pyrrha pulled Jaune onto a rooftop, they overlooked the Beacon Tower in the distance. A pleasant view of the school was visible. Jaune looked over the edge before backing away.

"Uhh yeah. I don't really need any more practice in 'landing strategies'.", He said.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune and then at the ledge. "No! Not that! I mean, you're really good with your guns, but what about your close range combat? It's lacking, honestly. You almost never use your sword and shield. I... I could teach you, if you let me.", Pyrrha noted.

"It would be my honor, Pyrrha. You're famous enough to get a sponsorship with Pumpkin Pete, so I guess you're good enough to train the heir to Hyperion Weapons and Technology!", Jaune said.

"Then we'll begin. Tomorrow. Nobody will bother us up here. We'll be all alone with our training.", Pyrrha said.

"_Yeah, all alone, just the two of us together._", Jaune thought. "Yeah. That'll be perfect."

"So, Jaune. If I may ask, why did you decide to come to Beacon? You're from Atlas, right? Their Academy is better than this one, and you could even join the military after you graduated...", Pyrrha asked.

Jaune looked around, they were really alone. "Look, Pyrrha. I didn't _decide_ to come here, my father made me come here. To avoid the mandatory military servitude. My transcripts wouldn't have gone very far outside of Atlas, so he forged some records and got me into Beacon. What better way to represent our company than to become a Huntsman at the best Academy in the world, right?"

"Oh... Jaune... I..."

"Yeah, you didn't know. I get it. Believe me, my _destiny_ was to become a mascot for Hyperion one day. There are easier ways of doing that, but my father believed otherwise. So I'm here. With you.", Jaune stated.

"I understand, Jaune. _Destiny_. We're bound to become something greater.", Pyrrha noted.

"Always something greater, pumpkin. Always. We're in this together. I see how you react to all that fame you've gathered. You don't like it. Don't worry, I'm in the same boat. I hate the looks I get from people when they realize who I am and who I represent. We're going to change _destiny_. We're going to forge our own paths through life. We're never going to let _fate_ decide where we go. We just need to keep going and remember, to be greater than all the others that came before us.", Jaune concluded.

Pyrrha nodded in silent agreement. Jaune was right again. Can't let fate decide where you go. Nothing is written and there is no script to life itself. Destiny was a predetermined fate, and with the realization of the fact they could change that, their futures were infinite. You cannot change a future that hasn't happened yet. Their future was what they made of it.

"If we let fate decide out destiny, You and I are both cursed to what we believe will happen. Nothing is set in stone, Pyrrha. We decide our own fate. We can defy the stories written for us. We can defy destiny itself!", Jaune said.

Pyrrha sighed. She knew what her destiny was. And she wanted to avoid it. She mentally agreed with Jaune and committed to him. Together they were going to change it all.

"What do we do, Jaune?", Pyrrha asked, taking in all that he'd said.

"We continue what we've been doing. Training, going to class. All of it. We just need to remember to always be something greater.", He replied. "Because in the end, I won't be a mascot and you won't be a tournament fighter. I'll take over Hyperion as its CEO and you will become what ever your heart desires. Always greater, Pyrrha. Always something greater.", Jaune concluded.

The duo stood on the rooftop for a long time. Jaune's rant had awoken something inside Pyrrha's heart. The two of them were not bound or controlled by anyone or anything. Their proposed futures, the ones that were encouraged or forced upon them were not set in stone. The future was what they made of it.

If she really wanted to, Pyrrha could just up and quit Beacon if she wanted, she could go and open up a flower shop. Jaune could become a used car salesman or something. They really could do anything. But, she was still determined to become a Huntress. Jaune was determined to do that as well, defying his father and taking control of his family's famous company in the end, rather than ending up its mascot and selling more guns and weapons. She thought for a moment. Perhaps the Soothsayers in Mistral were wrong, she wasn't going to become a Martyr, she was going to be the hero, even if she was told 'You won't be a hero in the end' by the Oracles at the temple. Pyrrha decided, she was going to take control over her destiny. And she and Jaune would become something far greater than ever imagined.

**Chapter 4 is done. Hooray. Hope you like magnificent-bastard Jaune. I certainly like writing him like this. Remember, he's not Jaune the pathetic swordsman anymore, he's Handsome Jaune, the hero of this story. ~!Inspiration!~ **


	5. Forever Falling into the Best Days Ever

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Chapter 5: Forever Falling into the Best Days Ever

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Pyrrha and Jaune stood together with their teammates. They were on a special mission for Professor Peach. Professor Goodwitch was standing in as their guardian for now. The mission was simple, collect some red sap from the various red trees in the Forever Fall Forest. They had been warned, the sap attracted Grimm, like Rapier Wasps and Ursa. They would meet opposition.

Jaune briefly wondered _what_ exactly Professor Peach was doing that was obviously so important she couldn't teach her class on Wilderness Survival. Nora chimed in that Professor Peach was at home taking care of her sick boyfriend, Bowser, a turtle Faunus who had eaten poisonous mushrooms and gotten sick. He'd also clogged the toilet in their apartment and gotten into a fight with the plumber. Jaune chuckled lightly at the story. How ridiculous.

Nora and Ren went about collecting and subsequently drinking a lot of the red sap. Nora thought it would make a great pancake syrup. Ren just wanted to collect the sap and return to his studies. Jaune really didn't know how the two of them managed to get along. The world was a crazy place.

Him and Pyrrha collected the red sap without issues. There were a few minor Grimm attacks from some Beowolves and Creeps, but it was nothing the two couldn't handle. Together they fought, spear and shield next to shotgun and shield. Jaune shot blasts over his basic heater shield, covering Pyrrha's back. The two flipped sides, covering each-other as the smaller Grimm Creeps surrounded them, they fought like it was some kind of game and stood proudly as the Grimm dissipated into smoke. They'd gotten enough sap for today and had a great time fighting. A rumbling in the distance interrupted their moment of glory.

One of Cardin's teammates burst through the brush. "That's a big Ursa! Run!", he screamed as he ran away.

Pyrrha pulled her spear and readied her shield. "Jaune! We can't let him die!"

Jaune shrugged, he really didn't care if Cardin died today. It would be one less asshole on the planet. He humored Pyrrha and readied _Conference Call_ before following the red-haired Spartan into the brush.

A rather grim sight befell them. An Ursa Major had crippled poor Cardin and was busy thrashing the boy with its claws. Blood flowed freely, staining the ground of the red forest with even more crimson.

"Help! Somebody! Please!", Cardin called. Jaune fired his shotgun.

The flechettes tore into the Ursa, surprising it and causing the beast to turn on the blond-haired gunslinger. Pyrrha shot as well, swapping Milo into rifle form and covered Jaune as the Ursa swiped at him. He blocked the heavy attack with his shield.

Jaune looked at Cardin. Some of the red on his body was actually sap from the trees. How the poor schmuck got covered in the stuff would never be known. "Get out of here, you idiot!", he shouted. Cardin quickly limped away in fear, shooting Jaune a thankful glance. Winchester would remember this.

Jaune blocked another attack from the Grimm, this time his shield was brought up to block by Pyrrha's Semblance. Jaune felt a little tug as the metal slab was pulled into the correct position, avoiding a glancing blow that would've knocked the protective item from his hands. He fired _Conference Call_, knocking the Ursa backwards before switching the shotgun into Bastard Sword form. He slashed, powerfully amplified by the Spartan's Semblance and beheaded the menacing Grimm in a single motion. He stood out of breath as the Ursa Major disintegrated into smoke, just like all the other Grimm.

"Jaune Arc! That was an incredible feat you just performed. And if I am correct, you also saved your classmate Cardin Winchester's life. You will be commended for your bravery.", Goodwitch noted as she walked into the clearing.

"I only struck the killing blow. I couldn't have done anything without Pyrrha.", Jaune stated. Pyrrha beamed.

"In any case, I believe we're done here. Class is adjourned. When we return to Beacon, I'm sure Professor Ozpin will want to congratulate both of you for your efforts today.", Goodwitch concluded.

Back at the Academy, Jaune and Pyrrha were taken to Professor Ozpin's office in the tower high above everything else. Bronze gears turned mechanically, the clicking of them the only sound in the office as the duo took a seat in front of the Headmaster's desk. Ozpin had his back turned to the two of them. He drank deeply from his mug.

"So. I hear you two have saved one of your colleagues from certain death.", Ozpin mused. "Even if that particular student isn't well liked among the others. You still put your own lives at risk for his."

"We did, sir. We only did what was right as Huntsmen.", Pyrrha responded. "A Huntsman protects the weak, no matter what."

"Hm. Well, it certainly seems like you're ready for what the future holds.", Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug again.

"I am... We are. We're ready to become something greater, Professor Ozpin. We... We create our own destiny. We are doing what is right.", Pyrrha said, thinking back to what Jaune had said.

"Indeed. You two are destined for greatness. But please. Don't let that go to your head.", Ozpin concluded. He turned away from them again before waving them off.

Jaune and Pyrrha headed back down to their dorms. The autumn break started tomorrow and Pyrrha had just received a notification on her Scroll that a very special package had arrived in the post. The duo walked back happily. Tomorrow was another day.

Ozpin sat in his office, now empty, and sipped the remainder of his drink from his mug. He sighed in mild amusement. "Destiny.", he said. Perhaps Pyrrha Nikos wasn't the best choice for what he'd had planned. She believed she could change her _fate_. He knew what the Oracles said about her. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what weight fell on her shoulders in the end. Ozpin only hoped that the red-haired Spartan would still take the chances he gave her. "To become something greater...", he mused. "Only time will tell..."

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Pyrrha conjured a whirlwind of tin cans from the mangled vending machines. She was embroiled in a battle to end all battles. A food fight. Nora and Ren had fallen, soaked to the bone in turkey gravy from the assault Team RWBY had lead. Jaune grabbed a lunch tray as a shield and defended his best friend with a baguette. His skills in close combat were improving, albeit slowly despite their nightly training sessions.

Pyrrha didn't need to hide anymore. She was surrounded by friends. She twisted the tin cans, forming a large dragon mouth, bursting some of the soda cans in the process and coating her rival team with sticky goo. She plunged it forwards enveloping Ruby Rose in the process, sweeping her and her teammates up into a cacophony of screams and slammed them into the far wall of the cafeteria. She pressed harder, bursting all of the soda cans and drenching her rival team to the bone. Team RWBY stuck to the wall like darts thrown by a drunken swordsman. Slowly, they slipped off of it, landing in a heap. Pyrrha let out a loud laugh at the sight of it all before Professor Goodwitch entered in a fury and set everything right.

The blond-haired Professor argued heatedly with Headmaster Ozpin for a few moments before leaving. The two teams were left alone and encouraged to return to their dorms. Pyrrha collected her gravy-stained teammates and Jaune and lead them back up to their dorm room. Team RWBY hadn't followed them. They were still off doing whatever it was that they did in their free time.

Back in JNPR's dorm, Ren fell asleep and drooled into his pillow in exhaustion. Nora bounced around the room before finding some coupons from a local all-day breakfast club and ran off with Ren's credit card in search of more food. The stoic boy didn't notice. Jaune read from his Scroll, reading up on what was happening in the world around them, particularly Atlas and Hyperion. Pyrrha finally opened her package, which had come in the mail a few weeks ago.

Pyrrha hurried into the dorm's bathroom. She excused herself quietly, not that Jaune or Ren noticed. She opened the package. It contained the Trevali Arms Nanofibre Mesh chain-mail she'd ordered. Jaune had said she'd needed more armor and this was the perfect solution. The armor was fine and stretchy, like spandex. She removed her bodice and gorget and pulled the new armor over her torso, it conformed to her shape easily and almost seamlessly meshed with her belt. It covered her arms and shoulders, her chest and neck. It fit her like a second skin. She quickly put her bodice and gorget back on over the nanofibre and did a few test moves. It certainly didn't feel like she was wearing anything. Perhaps that was why the armor was so highly rated on Whamazon. A little more research into it had lead her to discover that Trevali Arms was out of business and the warranty on the armor no longer applied. It was still the only 5 out of 5 rated piece for her budget and its deep crimson color matched her skirt perfectly. She exited the bathroom to show Jaune her new armor.

"So? I took your advice and I bought some better armor!", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah... About that. When I said you needed more armor, I meant like actual armor. Not some kind of spandex that covers your naughty bits, Pyrrha.", Jaune said as he looked at her.

"It is armor, Jaune. It's a special kind of chain-mail from Atlas. Trevali Arms made it.", she said.

"Yeah okay. Trevali Arms went out of business like 20 years ago. You've got to be kidding me.", Jaune responded.

"Well, it's highly rated on Whamazon, and I can't argue with the reviews of hundreds of other Huntsmen. Let's go test it out!", Pyrrha concluded as she pulled Jaune out of the dorm and towards their rooftop training ground. Jaune just sighed as he was pulled along by the rambunctious red-haired Spartan.

On the rooftop, Pyrrha stood with her weapons drawn. Jaune stood across from her reluctantly with _Cutting Edge_ in its dagger form and his shield at the ready.

"Okay, Jaune. I want you to stab me. Like hard.", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea. Spandex won't stop a dagger, Pyrrha.", Jaune said.

"Just do it, aim for something non-vital.", She coerced.

"Okay, fine. Your funeral...", Jaune relented as he stabbed his dagger towards Pyrrha's shoulder. He really didn't want to hurt her.

The dagger bounced off of Pyrrha's new chain-mail armor. The fibers of the nanomesh hardening on impact and deflecting the blade. She took no damage, not even a little bit of kinetic energy was transferred. The armor took it all. Jaune stood surprised.

"Holy shit! That stuff really works! How did Trevali Arms not sell millions of this stuff?", He stated in surprise. He switched _Cutting Edge_ into sub-machine gun form and let loose with a hail of bullets aimed for Pyrrha's heart. None of the bullets penetrated her armor, they were all deflected off to the sides.

"So, what do you think?", Pyrrha asked.

"I think you're crazy for trusting an old defunct company and its 'revolutionary' designs. You know they even tried to make a flying car? Anyways, it works, so I guess I'm glad you didn't die?", Jaune noted.

"It doesn't even hinder my movements either. It's really nice.", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah, and it still shows off all your naughty bits, just without as much skin. I like it, you should stick with it.", Jaune said.

Pyrrha just shot him a look. "I will, Jaune. For the protection."

"Definitely. For the protection.", Jaune agreed.

A few days later, exchange students piled into the school. Haven Academy had sent over three of its best students, a green-haired girl with red eyes, a gray-haired boy, and a rather old looking 'teenage girl' with an edgy haircut and piercing amber eyes; she looked like she had a lot of 'city miles' on her.

The Teams had assembled in the Great Hall. Combat Class had begun. Pyrrha was up next and she was about to choose her opponent. Jaune, Ren and Nora sat in the gallery waiting for her response.

"Miss Nikos. Who would you like to duel today?", Goodwitch said.

"Professor Goodwitch, I'd-", She was cut off.

"I want to duel her!", a mysterious gray-haired boy said from the stands.

"Very well, Mercury... Black. Please proceed to the combat stage.", Goodwitch stated.

Mercury Black proceeded to the combat stage proudly. He had no visible weapons. Pyrrha sighed. This wasn't going to end well for the newcomer. "Best of luck, to you."

Pyrrha stood across from the young man, he readied up in defense. Goodwitch began the duel and Mercury began his attack, Pyrrha blocking it and tripping him easily. He tripped, but back-flipped a few times to gain some distance. He attacked again, this time with a flurry of kicks amplified by hidden guns in his boots. Pyrrha studied him. If he had guns in his boots, then he had metal in them as well. She grinned. Jaune had encouraged her to use her Semblance more often, she was supposed to be a Huntress, not a tournament fighter; there wasn't much point in _hiding_ her abilities when lives were at stake.

Mercury returned with a flying jump-kick, which Pyrrha easily blocked. He jumped again with a bicycle kick, blocked again. He jumped in for a roundhouse kick, this time Pyrrha used her Semblance on his foot, sending him spinning off like a ballerina. Mercury pirouetted several times on one foot. Pyrrha used her Semblance again, accelerating the young man into a tornado of confusion as he spun faster and faster on one foot. His green-haired partner in the stands looked a little more concerned. Mercury screamed like a little girl. Pyrrha suddenly became aware that both of his feet were prosthetic as the still extended one came off and flew out of the ring. His other foot also came off, the metal nubbin digging into the arena floor as he spun like an out-of-control theme park ride. Pyrrha took this time to slam him with her shield, knocking Mercury to the ground ending his death-spin. He spun a few times on his chest as he came to a rest on the ground. He heaved violently as he recovered from the room-spin and dizziness. Goodwitch called the match.

"Pyrrha Nikos wins the match. Congratulations.", the Professor stated with mild apathy.

Mercury tried to stand, subsequently realizing he had no feet, he fell forwards again before dragging himself out of the ring on his arms, collecting his prosthetic feet on the way out. His partner up in the stands rushed to his aid. "Emerald... I made a mistake...", he grumbled. Mercury's face was greener than Emerald's hair. Still recovering from the spins, he promptly vomited all over Emerald causing the green-haired girl to run off in surprise and embarrassment. He passed out just in front of the door, a few other Professors collected him and dragged him off to the infirmary.

"I'm sorry!", Pyrrha called as she watched Mercury being loaded up onto a gurney. Team RWBY laughed at the whole scene. The two exchange students seemed a little odd. Jaune congratulated her as she returned to her seat. Nobody wanted to fight after that show.

"Class, we have time for one more match, would anyone like to fight? Anyone? No? Okay then...", Goodwitch said. She continued to explain the virtues of combat and choosing your opponent. She went into detail that your enemy may not have abilities that are immediately apparent, vaguely reference the ridiculous fight. She went in to say that if it comes down to running away and surviving versus fighting a losing battle, there was no dishonor in fleeing if it meant you were able to fight again tomorrow. She continued her lecture until the bell rang, reminding everyone as they left that there was still time to practice for the Vytal Festival. Jaune and Pyrrha headed back to their dorms.

Back in the dorm rooms, in a different wing designated for all the exchange students arriving for the Festival, Mercury, Emerald and their mysterious friend Cinder sat in shame. Emerald sobbed incoherently still covered in vomit. Mercury sat holding his ruined prosthetic feet and Cinder looked like a 30 year old woman going through a midlife crisis dressed like a teenage kid, or what she _thought_ teenagers wore. Cinder's hair was black and styled to cover one side of her face like a female edgelord, she wore the standard black outfit reserved for exchange students. She just stared at her two minions.

"So what the actual hell happened to you two?", she asked.

"Mercury lost a duel. Pyrrha Nikos beat him.", Emerald said between sobs.

"Lost? I got ass-raped! That bitch can use polarity, she ripped my legs off and spun me into oblivion! She's a lot stronger than she looks and her _looks_ can definitely kill.", Mercury argued.

"And then he threw up on me!", Emerald cried.

"Well you would too, if you were spinning like a drunken crow for nine minutes straight!", Mercury shouted.

"Enough! Add her to the _list!", _Cinder commanded. Emerald added Pyrrha Nikos to the _List_.

"I think you're going to have some problems, Cinder..." Mercury mused.

The mysterious woman shot him a glare. "I won't have any problems, dear Mercury. Do you believe in _destiny_?"

On the rooftops, swords clashed against shields. A bastard sword cleaved through the heavens, stopped by a shield held firm. A spear lanced outwards, caught in between a sword and dagger and ripped from their owner's grip. In a swift surprise attack, the now weaponless attacker was knocked back by a shotgun blast before the same bastard sword and dagger came to rest at her throat before being drawn back.

"Very good. You're doing so much better, Jaune. I'm so happy for you.", Pyrrha beamed.

"Hey, couldn't have done it without you, pumpkin.", Jaune complimented. "Hey, so... Since we're free, I thought I'd ask you something. I've got a little problem, there's this dance coming up and I don't really know how to ask someone out for it."

"Oh? Why?", Pyrrha asked.

"Well, the person I'm interested in seems so far out of my league, there isn't much point. Like I'm going to make an ass of myself for even trying.", Jaune said.

"Jaune, there's no harm in trying. Just be yourself. If whoever you're interested in sees you for who you really are, then I'm sure you'll get your date.", Pyrrha mused.

"Oh, really? You think so?", he said.

"I do. You just have to be confident.", she concluded.

"Well, then. Pyrrha Nikos, would you be my date to the Beacon Ball next Saturday?", Jaune asked.

"I-. It would be my pleasure, Jaune."

The lovers embraced, Pyrrha giving Jaune a little peck on the cheek. The two were bound for life, wherever it lead them. Jaune had showed her that _fate_ was whatever you made it and she shouldn't be afraid of using her natural abilities. Pyrrha had taught Jaune to be more confident with his skills and himself. The two disengaged and laughed awkwardly at the show of affection before heading back downstairs to their dorms. Love was in the air, and if Nora wasn't aware of it now, she would be.

**Chapter is done. Hope you liked it. Vol. 3 is coming up real soon. Are you ready?**


	6. Dancing Mountain Breach

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Chapter 6: Dancing Mountain Breach

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Far outside of Vale, in Atlas, McDiarmid tossed lightning amplified by his Semblance at Tonar Valkyrie. They were high above the city fighting off insurgents from an unknown enemy. "Power! Unliiimittteeed... Power!", he shouted. Tonar raged, his body absorbing the energy as his muscles grew and channeled that energy into a serious strength enhancement. He slammed his hammer-mace into his enemy launching him through a window and off of the floating city entirely. McDiarmid suddenly got a Scroll notification. "Hey, Uncle! Got my first date!", it was Jaune Arc, his favorite nephew.

"What's that, Mac?", Tonar asked.

"Oh, just my nephew, he just got his first date!", 'Mac' McDiarmid replied.

"Oh? Wish him well, first dates are the precursor to marriage where I'm from.", Tonar stated.

"Will, do. Now... Let's finish this!", Mac and Tonar headed off through the tower pursuing their attackers. Something big was afoot if insurgents were willing to risk attacking Atlas itself.

Back at Beacon Academy, Yang Xiao-Long manned the door. She checked people in and out of the fancy gala. "Ooh! Pyrrha and Jaune! Welcome to the ball!", Pyrrha wore a red dress and Jaune wore a dashing black tuxedo. Nora and Ren followed just behind them, stolen candy falling out of Nora's pockets as they entered.

Mercury and Emerald entered next, Mercury's legs replaced with wooden peg-legs instead of his usual ones. The gray-haired boy stumbled in awkwardly. "Oh, and it's peg-pecker and green-with-envy. Welcome to the ball!". The odd duo just stared at Yang as they hobbled towards the buffet. Mercury tripped over his own feet and upended the punch bowl onto Emerald. The green-haired girl shrieked in response.

"Man, those two just can't catch a break!", Jaune noted as he danced with Pyrrha.

"I guess some people are just unlucky.", she mused.

Nora, now on a sugar rush, pinballed around the room with Ren in tow. She combined traditional formal dancing with break-dancing moves. The previously stoic boy looked like he was about to hurl. Jaune just shot him an empathetic glance as he shot past.

Weiss Schnee danced slowly with another set of exchange students. Sun Wukong and Neptune. She had brought along her own band and played _Valse di Fantastica_ a waltzing tune and danced better than her suitors. Jaune and Pyrrha matched the song and danced along with it, showing Weiss that they were the better duo. Schnee just glared at them vehemently. "_Who's the most envious of them all, Schnee?", _Jaune thought. Neptune and Sun gave up and danced with each-other as Weiss walked off to spike the newly filled punch bowl.

The dance continued, Jaune briefly noticed the young Ruby Rose sneaking off out of the Hall. He thought nothing of it, but saw something from the corner of his eye. Something on the rooftops. Odd. He whispered to Pyrrha. "Hey... Ruby is onto something. I think someone's trying to prank us. We should follow her!", Pyrrha nodded and followed Jaune out of the side door. Ruby was nowhere in sight.

Jaune looked around. The younger girl was nowhere in sight, but a trail of rose-petals said otherwise. Pyrrha pointed them out and the duo headed off in search of their friend. A series of gunshots rang out, high above them from the CCT tower. Jaune called it first. "Up there! Something's going on!", he shouted. General Ironwood walked calmly through the courtyards, oblivious.

"General! There's something happening in the CCT!", Jaune shouted, the General took notice of the interference almost robotically.

"What!? You two head back to the dance, it's safer there. I'll check it out!", he commanded.

Jaune and Pyrrha reluctantly headed back to the dance. It was for the best. Goodwitch had stated that it probably wasn't smart to run headfirst into situations you weren't prepared for; better to let an actual Huntsman take charge instead. As the duo reentered the Ball, the dance remained the same. Nora ran over to them.

"Oooh! What did you two sneak off to do?", She pondered loudly.

"Nothing like _that_, I can assure you.", Pyrrha noted.

"Awww. No fair! I know you guys like each-other!", Nora said.

"I think the upperclassmen are trying to prank us. Just be on your guard.", Jaune noted.

Nora shuddered. She really didn't want to know what the upperclassmen had prepared for them. It would probably be messier than Mercury vomiting on Emerald.

Far away in Atlas, Mac and Tonar panicked.

"We've been compromised!", Tonar shouted as he looked over the CCT control system.

"I can see that, Tonar. We need to inform the General!", Mac responded.

They looked at the Control System. A single strange icon appeared on all of the screens. Whoever had attacked had been a diversion. Something big was afoot, something unknown. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Atlas would have to double-down on their defenses during the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament.

Mercury and Emerald danced as best as they could. With two wooden peg-legs, Mercury just shifted side to side as they 'danced'. Emerald was still wet and sticky with the spilled punch bowl from earlier. The bowl they'd replaced it with tasted strongly of vodka, which no doubt Weiss Schnee was responsible for. Vodka was a national drink in Atlas. It showed. Badly.

"May I cut in?", Cinder said as she tapped Emerald on the shoulder. Emerald backed away from Mercury, the gray-haired boy wobbling as she left him to balance on his pegs. Cinder grabbed him and continued the awkward dance.

"Seems like you've had an exciting night.", Mercury mused.

"It's all going according to plan, dear Mercury.", Cinder mused. She was dressed like a gimp, in leather pants and a corset. She looked more like a washed-out dominatrix than a student at Beacon. Mercury sighed. _"She's too old for this.", _he mused_. _

Cinder suddenly moved to her left, leaving Mercury to wobble. It seemed like she was going into an internal-monologue. Mercury wobbled and fell, his left peg-leg going upwards and slamming Cinder between the legs. The edgelord fell in pain from the impact, her internal-monologue interrupted by her bumbling minion. Emerald rushed to help her fallen friend, but tripped over Mercury's now disconnected right peg-leg and fell directly on top of Cinder. The three of them fumbled around helplessly on the dance floor. Nora, mistaking this for break-dancing, jumped in and started her own dance routine, pulling the three strange students into an impromptu mosh-pit like showdown. Everything quickly went to hell in a hand-basket.

"I hope they're okay. The tournament is in a few weeks.", Pyrrha noted as Nora and the three exchange students were loaded onto gurneys and taken to the infirmary.

"They'll be fine! I can see why you didn't go to Haven, it must be crazy there!", Jaune noted.

The next day dawned, Team RWBY had overslept, having had to much of the spiked punch from the Beacon Ball. Team JNPR stood at the ready, having heard Professor Ozpin's speech to all the transfer students. He's talked for a while about the Great War, and the upcoming Vytal Festival and the meaning of said celebration. Today, they were going to take on their first Huntsman missions shadowing a professional Huntsman. Team RWBY finally showed up after the speech had ended. Everyone quickly ran up to the bounty boards and began to choose their destinations.

Ren chose a Perimeter Defense mission, they'd be protecting a smaller village from an attack from bandits. A notorious bandit by the name of Puck the Mad had been raiding a nearby village for supplies. Team JNPR was on the job!

"Aw man, this guy sounds like a comic book villain. 'Oh no, we need to stop the evil bandits from stealing all the tennis rackets from Tennis Racket Village', give me a break!", Jaune mockingly complained.

"It's a noble task, Jaune. We're going to be shadowing Peter... Port. Oh... Oh no.", Pyrrha said. "It's... Professor Port. We're shadowing him... Oh please gods no..."

"Ah! Students! Looks like we're ready to disembark on our noble mission! Protecting a village is a fine task and a good test of our skills! You, know... When I was just a lad I...", Professor Port rambled. He just kept talking, in one long incredibly unbroken sentence moving from topic to topic so that nobody had a chance to interrupt him. It was really quite hypnotic. Pyrrha furiously adjusted her circlet, grabbed her weapons and followed the old man out to the Bullhead. Everyone else followed her lead reluctantly. Professor Port just kept rambling. The Bullhead soon departed with Team JNPR onboard.

In the village, Professor Port kept talking. He never stopped talking. He never took a breath. He just kept rambling almost incoherently about this mission and his past experiences. He had a lot of stories about a crow for some reason. A crow in a skirt, a crow doing another thing. It was ridiculous.

Pyrrha sighed, she'd expected the villagers to be thankful for their new protectors, but the villagers just seemed mildly annoyed by the bandits, they weren't cowering in fear or really complaining. The bandits just seemed to steal whatever wasn't locked up at the time, usually random supplies like loose leaf paper or a half-bag of grain. Sometimes fruit went missing or unused lumber disappeared. It was strange. It didn't seem like bandits. Regardless, Team JNPR protected the village from evil. They got tired of standing around after a few hours and went to get lunch. Professor Port had run off after seeing an old acquaintance and let them be. The last thing he'd shouted was: "Taiyang!".

Jaune and the rest of Team JNPR ordered food at MacDunhold's, it was a burger shack and part of a long chain of restaurants in Vale. Nora ordered the All-Day Breakfast special while everyone else got the regular burger and fries. They all hoped Team RWBY was having a better time than they were.

In Mountain Glenn, Team RWBY listened to Doctor Oobleck and his assault on words. The strange Doctor slammed syllables and consonants like they were his enemy, over enunciating every word he spoke. It was really quite hypnotic.

As the day drew to a close, Team JNPR flew back to Beacon Academy after a long day of doing nothing. Team RWBY slept soundly as they could in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, unbeknownst to their friends.

The next morning, Team JNPR turned in their 'mission' in the village. As it had turned out, the village chieftain had hired a janitor to throw out all the old and unused trash around the village. Said janitor forgot to tell anyone he was doing the job and the silly villagers blamed bandits. The janitor's name was Puck Madison, he was a completely normal man with no criminal background. For whatever reason, the villagers held onto their trash like it had value. Moldy fruit, ruined wood, soggy grain and crumpled paper scraps. It was a village of hoarders. The only thing they'd learned from the whole ordeal was that Pyrrha could stop bullets with her Semblance and Nora could eat 5000 calories and not gain any weight. A very productive day.

"Hey guys. Team RWBY called last night. I think it was a butt-dial. Just static.", Jaune noted.

"Yeah, probably. They're off on a fun mission while we got stuck with the janitor!", Nora stated.

"They've always performed well in the field. We should focus on our next mission.", Ren said.

"We're going to be defending another village from more bandits. Hopefully it's not another wild goose chase.", Pyrrha stated.

A siren blared from Vale City. Smoke rose slowly from the skyline.

"Is... Is that a fire?", Jaune asked.

"No... It's Grimm.", Pyrrha answered.

"Then we're changing our mission. We have to defend the city!", Ren shouted as he lead the rest of the team towards an awaiting Bullhead.

The Bullhead flew off to Vale City. Grimm enemies prowled the streets while Team RWBY held them off in the city center. Team JNPR jumped from their airship and landed as gracefully as they could to help their friends against the onslaught of Grimm. Whatever mission the other Team had, it had lead them directly into town through an abandoned subway tunnel. The Grimm most likely followed them.

Nora landed first, slamming her hammer into a Deathstalker and killing it. Ren landed second, firing his guns at the various Beowolves that littered the streets. Jaune and Pyrrha landed last, Jaune firing his shotgun into an Ursa Major breaking his fall while Pyrrha landed heroically next to him. _Conference Call_ blasted Grimm to bits while _Milo_ impaled the incoming Grimm.

Team JNPR and RWBY weren't alone, Team CFVY and others soon arrived, lending a hand to the Grimm that had invaded the city. Coco Adel, firing her minigun repeatedly and taking out a group of Nevermores. Strangely, Velvet Scarlatina just stood and took action shots with her camera, catching Jaune and Pyrrha in heroic poses as they all fought off the menace. Yatsuhashi slammed into the ground with his greatsword and knocked all the smaller Grimm away. He fought like a juggernaut against the waves of attackers.

The sounds of airships above in the skies heralded the arrival of professional help. Atlas flagships soon flew over the city. Dropships launched pods that opened to reveal the new Atlesian Knights, which began to attack the Grimm invaders. A hellish blast of vulcan-cannon fire from Atlas fighter jets took out any remaining Grimm.

Like usual, Glynda Goodwitch arrived on the scene, using her Semblance to seal up the hole where a runaway subway train had burst through. She continued and began to fix some of the damage. Team RWBY had stopped fighting, instead looking to their saviors as Atlas dropped more and more mechanical soldiers into the city. The day was won. Team JNPR all sighed heavily and boarded the nearest Atlas transport back to Beacon. Today was a heroic day.

Back at Beacon, Team RWBY sat on the ledge overlooking Vale City. They were tired and talked about their fight. JNPR walked off back to their dorms. Pyrrha and Jaune stood in the courtyards and watched Ren and Nora walk triumphantly towards the cafeteria, presumably to get some after-battle dinner.

"Jaune. Today was... Interesting...", Pyrrha noted.

"I know, right? All those Grimm? RWBY managed to capture the guy behind the attack, some guy named Torchdick or something.", Jaune said.

"Roman Torch_wick_, Jaune. He's a criminal mastermind. He'll be spending the rest of his days in an Atlas gulag or slaving away in some dust mine. We won.", Pyrrha said.

"Well, we have a few weeks of vacation before the Vytal Festival starts. I heard they're postponing class until after the fun! We should celebrate our victory today!", Jaune stated.

"Thank goodness. I'm so tired of Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck's mindless banter. We... We should probably get some rest. We all fought bravely today.", Pyrrha concluded.

The duo headed back to their dorms. Sleep was welcomed. Between the antics of a janitor and the threat of Grimm, Team JNPR was dead-tired. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of something great.

**Chapter is done. Woohoo. Volume 3 starts next. Are you ready for a rollercoaster of emotional disaster? I'm not. Heroes will soon defy stories themselves. Destiny is a lie. Time is what you make of it. Nobody controls your life.**


	7. The Vital Festival

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Chapter 7: The Vital Festival

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High above Beacon Academy, the Amity Arena hovered in mid-air. Team JNPR sat in the lounge, watching Team RWBY kick serious ass. Team ABRN of Haven fought like a bunch of punks while RWBY showed their usual finesse in combat. Nora cheered as Yang fought off her opponent and Ruby covered her with sniper fire. Despite Ruby's obvious youth, she actually fought with respectable tactics.

"Hey, pumpkin! We're fighting next. I hope it's those weirdos who are _also_ apparently from Haven.", Jaune said.

"Hey yourself, Jaune. I really don't think they're from Haven... Maybe from somewhere else originally, perhaps Vacuo. They don't really seem like Haven material. That Mercury fool...", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah okay. Maybe Vacuo. Judging by Sun and Neptune you're probably right.", Jaune noted.

"Guys! You're missing the best part!", Nora shouted.

Jaune and Pyrrha missed the end of RWBY's combat. The match had ended with the best team victorious. It was Team RWBY. Obviously.

"Hey. Are any of you guys feeling a bit peckish?", Ren said.

"Oh yeah! Let's go down to the fairgrounds and pig out!", Nora yelled before she dragged Ren away to find food. The awkward couple didn't even wait for the air-tram to land, they catapulted off the Amity Arena like the crazy couple they were. Ren shot Jaune a look as he was dragged off the ledge. He seemed scared.

Pyrrha and Jaune took the air-tram like the sane people they were. They found Ren and Nora a short time later talking with Team RWBY. Everyone had decided on eating at _A Simple Wok_, which was a noodle hut owned by one of the many identical twin shop-keepers. Nora had paid for all of the food, ordering for her two absent teammates as well. She used Ren's credit card. Ren just seemed uneasy.

"Hey, Ren. Don't worry about it.", Jaune said as he slipped the uncomfortable young man a 500 Lien chip. Ren looked a little happier.

Jaune and Pyrrha sat and ordered their meals. Jaune had gotten the Mistrali-style noodles, which was packed full of seafood and at least 40 spices. Pyrrha just had the Chef's Special. Both teams ate happily and recounted their struggles and victories as of recently.

An announcement blared. "Would Team JNPR please report to the arena! They were scheduled several minutes ago!"

They soon headed off, to their victory.

**I'm not writing the rest of the battles. If you've watched Volume 3, you know how this goes. I'm skipping to Vol. 3, Episode 6. Pyrrha is called to Headmaster Ozpin's office. **

"Ah! Miss Nikos, please. Come and sit. We have much to discuss.", Ozpin mused.

Pyrrha sat awkwardly in the oddly shaped chair across from Ozpin. "So... Why have you called me?"

"It comes as no surprise that you've been chosen for the solo rounds. You have done very well.", Ozpin said.

"I know, but I couldn't have done it without the rest of my team.", she responded.

"Personally, I think it's the other way around...", a man said.

"Hm? I don't think we've been introduced!", Pyrrha said in surprise.

"Oh, this is Qrow, a trusted colleague of mine. I've known him for years.", Ozpin mused.

"Wait... Qrow like the bird Crow!? Hahahaha... I know of you! You wore a skirt! You did a bunch of weird things as a student! Professor Port said so!", Pyrrha laughed in recognition. Qrow was weird. "So wait, why have you called me here? It wasn't just to meet your crazy drinking partner right?"

"Take a seat, Miss Nikos!", Ozpin commanded. Pyrrha sat down again.

"Tell me, Pyrrha. What's your favorite Fairy Tale?", Ozpin asked.

"What?"

"Stories from your childhood. Which one was your favorite?", Ozpin asked.

"Well, I liked the story of the seasons. The 4 maidens who represented the 4 seasons... They're just stories, Professor. I guess I like all of them.", Pyrrha mused.

"Would you believe me if I told you they're all true?", Ozpin mused.

"Uhhh... No. They're just stories, Professor."

"Well, what if I told you magic was real and that _you_ could have that power? That the Maidens held such power and it could be yours if you're willing?", Ozpin said.

"I... Uh..."

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy hearing it for the first time, right?", Qrow said.

"Why are you telling me this? I can't really become a Maiden, can I?", Pyrrha mused.

The clocks ticked loudly in the background. "We're telling you this, because we believe you're destined to become the next Fall Maiden.", Ozpin stated.

"_You can become anything you want, Pyrrha. Anything at all. You could become a Guardian Angel!_", Pyrrha remembered. Jaune had told her that _Destiny_ could be anything. Even becoming a God. "Wait! Who are _We?_ Who are you working with?"

"I'm working with the same professors and people you know...", Ozpin said.

"Except we have a little part-time job.", Qrow stated.

Goodwitch and Ironwood arrived and exited the elevator.

"We're protectors of the world you live in.", they said.

"We need your help.", Ozpin concluded.

"Uhhhmm..."

Pyrrha soon found herself goaded into an elevator headed downwards. The professors she trusted stood in silence. She just looked around in confusion.

"Where are we going?", she asked hesitantly. She didn't really want to know, but it seemed she was going to find exactly how deep the rabbit hole went.

"To the vault. Beneath the school. There are some things you need to see for yourself.", Ozpin said.

The elevator continued for several minutes. Pyrrha just looked at her professors, their demeanor had changed and they just stood like pod-people, motionless. The doors opened and everyone else left, leaving Pyrrha just inside the doors and staring into the hazy darkness of the 'vault' beyond. She stepped carefully outwards and followed her professors.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions.", Goodwitch noted.

"_A heaping shitload, Professor. An absolute unit of questions, like why am I here? Why me? Is it my 'Destiny' to become a goddess and be held on a pedestal that I hate? Also, why does it smell like blueberry pop-tarts in here? Why does Ozpin use a cane if he can walk fine? Also are you and Ironwood a thing? Why is Qrow spelled with a Q?"_ Pyrrha's thoughts ran rampant for a few seconds. "Um... Just one or two...", she said. "Why do you think I'm to receive Maiden powers?"

"Well, just like the seasons, Maidens change too. When one dies, their power goes to someone else. Only 4 maidens can exist in the world at one time, which means nobody can hold their power forever and it can also never be lost.", Goodwitch explained.

"But... How does that power transfer? How is the next Maiden chosen?", Pyrrha asked.

"A long and doubtful series of convoluted rules.", Qrow said as Goodwitch and Ironwood glared at him.

"As we understand it, the powers are only passed onto young women. Whoever was in their last thoughts is chosen as the next Maiden.", Goodwitch continued.

"Yeah, unless it's a dude or some old woman in a hut. The tale of Baba Yaga is just a tale, thankfully.", Qrow noted.

"Right... Why are you telling me this now? It's not for a Festival victory... It's something more, isn't it?", Pyrrha said.

"Tensions are high. I'm sure you've noticed that the world is becoming a scarier place.", Ironwood said.

"A war?"

"Not between nations. And sorry for the cliché, but between good and evil; right and wrong. A new world order. We won't make the same mistakes again.", Ironwood said.

"We can fill you in on the finer details when we know you've made your decision. All you need to know right now is that one of the Maidens was attacked and half of her power was stolen.", Qrow stated.

The group had stopped. A strange machine stood in front of them. A girl around Pyrrha's age was locked into one of the chambers.

"That's... Is that the Fall Maiden?", Pyrrha extrapolated. "She's..."

"She's being kept alive in stasis. We are planning on using Atlas technology to transfer her powers to a willing host. If natural selection is chosen instead, her powers may go to her attacker instead. And that would not be good for us.", Ironwood noted. "We have made leaps and bounds in the study of Aura. We can capture it. And we can transfer it."

"As in, we can take it from someone and cram it into someone else. You've seen the girly robot right?", Qrow noted as Ironwood looked like he was about to strangle the drunkard.

"That's just... wrong.", Pyrrha noted, although through natural means, she'd probably taken some of Jaune's Aura the night before.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Your Aura and hers would become merged; intertwined. It is a lot to take in. We aren't sure what will happen to you." Ironwood stated.

"You have a very important decision ahead of you. There is no guarantee this will work. If it does, we do not know if you will be the same person afterwards. I advise you to take some time and think about this. But, I will need an answer before the end of the Vytal Festival.", Ozpin mused.

"Otherwise you'll be subject to a court martial!", Ironwood said. Everyone else glared at him. "Or not."

Pyrrha sighed, she just looked into the glass tube where Amber, the previous Fall Maiden rested.

Thoughts raced through her mind. "_A little girl inside my mind says I should take the power. It's my 'destiny' right? Everyone else said so before I left Argus. I would become God-like. But then the soothsayers said I'd become a martyr, I would not be a hero in the end._".

She heard Jaune in her mind as well, "_You'll become intimately familiar with the ground as it covers your body in remembrance of the 'Girl Who Tried' _", Jaune's voice sang to her. "_We can defy fate. Our destiny is what we make it. We are not pawns to Fate!_"

She needed to talk to Jaune. He'd know what to do right? He always knew what to do. She sighed heavily. "_I don't even understand the real questions, so I'm just going to say 'Blueberry'."_

"I need to think about this. I will give you an answer as soon as I can.", she concluded.

XXXXX

A while later, Yang had finished her match against Mercury Black. She'd kicked his ass and kicked it some more. He tried to mock her and land a cheap shot after the match had ended, as it was seen by everyone in the arena, and she'd promptly broken his prosthetic legs off and beaten him with them. It was a plea of no-contest, Mercury had broken the rules by attacking after the bell had rung and had gotten the comeuppance that was sorely deserved. His partner Emerald was taken to the infirmary soon after with severe bowel disease, as she'd missed most of his fight due to food poisoning from eating the 'Gas Station' Sushi she'd raved about during lunch. It wasn't as good as she thought as she'd emptied her body of liquids as green as her own hair.

Nora walked past Team RWBY's dorm. "You broke his legs! And then you broke his skull with his broken legs! I love you!"

Vytal Festival Officials were trying to decide whether Yang had defended herself or had willingly attacked another student. Mercury had attacked first, which was painfully obvious. Nonetheless, the Officials deliberated.

"Hey, kiddo! You showed that douche-canoe who was boss! We all think you did great!", Jaune said as he passed their open door and went into his own dorm.

The Officials came to a conclusion. Yang would be suspended for the rest of the tournament, despite Mercury attacking first. Team RWBY would have to continue without their strongest fighter. Yang pouted. It wasn't fair. It was fair, since both competitors fought after the bell had rung. Mercury was also suspended and Emerald was barred from the Amity Arena following her brutal attack on the plumbing system.

"I think I'm going to rest up. I have the time, after all. Good luck, sis!", Yang called.

XXXXX

Across the hall, Pyrrha returned to the dorm in a strange trance. She seemed concerned with something. Maybe she was horny? Nora took notice.

"What wrong with you? Not enough Pyrrha-Fun-Time with Jauney boy last night? Don't worry, Ren and I will give you some room!", Nora beamed.

"Just don't use my bed this time!", Ren called. "I had to borrow Blake's sheets!"

Pyrrha turned fifty shades of red. "N-No! Nothing like that... Although... No. It's... I just need..."

"Aww! Don't worry! Jaune's in the bathroom, he'll be out shortly. We're leavinggg! Come on Ren, let's go see if Emerald and Mercury need any help in the 'infirmary'!", Nora yelled.

"I'm sure a nice 'get well' card will suffice. We don't need to send them to the ER", Ren noted as he was dragged from the room like a rag-doll.

Jaune came out of the bathroom in a loose t-shirt and athletic shorts. "What's this I heard about Fun-Time?"

"Hey, Jaune... I... Just wanted to talk to you about something.", Pyrhha said.

"Pumpkin, you can tell my anything. I'm here for you. I always will be.", He said.

"Jaune. If you had the chance to fulfill your _destiny_ would you do it? Like, if you had one chance to take it all, would you?", she asked.

"No. I wouldn't. Because I know what my _destiny_ is. If I could fulfill the _destiny_ I've come up with, then yes. I would. Because I could just take over control of Hyperion with no fight. I could become a god if I wanted to. It would be glorious.", Jaune noted. "But we're not talking about my destiny are we. We're talking about yours."

"Yes. We are. I have a chance to become everything everyone has ever told me I could become. Should I do it?", she said.

"You _told_ me what you're destined to become. A martyr, not a hero. No. You don't have to die for nothing, you don't need to give your life up for a reason, for a belief. Because that could go either way, you could be remembered as a hero, or as a villain. Either way, you won't be a hero in the end. You'll be a memory.", Jaune said.

"But what if the fate of the world rests upon my decision?"

"Still a no, Pyrrha. Because _Fate_ is a lie. Fate can be changed. You can only change your _fate_ if you're alive to do so."

"I could become a literal goddess, Jaune. I have the chance to become a goddess."

"Then... Take the power. But after you've got it, make your own decisions on what to do with it. If you're being forced to take this jump, then jump. Make you own landing. It's just like Ozpin made us do in the initiation ceremony.", Jaune mused.

"It could change me, Jaune. The power could change who I am..."

"And I'll still love you. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. Even if you forget who you are. I'll be the one to remind you. I love you, Pyrrha. Always and forever.", Jaune concluded.

"Then... I'll do it. I'll take the power. And then...", she stated.

"We could really do anything.", he responded.

"Yeah, we can really do... anything...", Pyrrha concluded. "_We can really do anything... Anything... Anything... Anything... "_

XXXXX

Pyrrha stood in the Amity Arena, she'd been chosen to represent all of Vale in the Vytal Festival. Her opponent would be Penny Polendina of Atlas. She reached out with her Semblance. Strangely, Penny seemed to have a lot of prosthetic limbs, almost as if her entire body was metal. _"Have you met the girly robot?"_ she remembered Qrow saying earlier. Penny looked like a regular human girl, but... Pyrrha stood her guard. The bell rung signaling the beginning of the match, this was going to be very interesting.

Penny surrounded herself with swords hung in the air by reverse magnetism. Pyrrha could feel the energy. Team RWBY cheered from the stands. Ruby Rose held two flags, one for Pyrrha and one for Penny. It was just all in good fun anyways. Pyrrha used her semblance, deflecting the swords as they flew towards her. The robotic girl sent more swords towards the Spartan, Pyrrha using her weapons this time to block the attacks. She backflipped through the air, taking a few hits in her new nanofibre armor and landed far back near the edge of the arena. Penny readied more swords as she eyed Pyrrha Nikos, this time a larger group than before aimed at Pyrrha.

The Spartan used her Semblance and tossed Penny through the air, twisting her around to face the other way. The floating swords crashed down around her, detaching from whatever held them to the robot girl's back. Pyrrha could see where the swords were held, in a strange backpack. Using her Semblance, Pyrrha pulled the backpack off of her opponent resulting in a shower of sparks. Penny turned to face her. She stumbled forwards a few steps.

"Error! Error! Battery power diminished. System Failure!", Penny called out in a mechanical tone. "My... My battery is low... And it's getting... Dark..."

Penny Polendina fell forwards lifelessly. Her previously glowing green clothing went dim, her eyes darkened. Pyrrha stood victorious. Atlas' secret robot was revealed.

"Ah! A robot challenger!? Preposterous!", Oobleck called from the announcer's booth. All of Team RWBY except for Ruby looked shocked. Team JNPR cheered in victory.

"Well, a splendid victory to Pyrrha Nikos of Vale! Atlas will have to think twice about-", Port was cut off.

"This is not a performance. This is what happens when you hand over your trust to the military might of Atlas. This is what happens when those who protect you _lie_ about their intentions. A normal girl, actually a robot in disguise! How many others are like her? How many other spies lie in your towns, your homes, your lives!?", A voice called. People panicked. People were afraid. Fear brought Grimm.

"Professor Ozpin thought that inviting Atlas and the other kingdoms would show the world that everyone was at peace. Instead, it was a test of military might. A show of who is really in control over everyone. The attack on Vale City, the Grimm... It was all a show for you, to make you trust _them_. That they were the only ones you could trust. But it's all a farce. He controls your lives, he tells lies. Is this what you want to believe!?", the voice continued.

Pyrrha knew that voice. It was Cinder, the strange girl apparently from Haven. She ran out of the Arena. Cinder was causing a panic. You did not want to cause a panic. Grimm slammed into the shields surrounding the Amity Arena. This was turning bad.

"Who do you think you can trust, when Ozpin has everyone in his pocket? When the Academies are simply means for propaganda? You can't trust anyone!", Cinder concluded.

Grimm enemies clashed, they slammed into the Amity Arena, threatening to bring it down. More Grimm on the ground overwhelmed Beacon's defenses. Pyrrha ran for her team, ignoring the blaring sirens heralding a Level Zero Grimm attack. Things were in motion beyond her control. She'd made her decision already. She needed to find Jaune, find Ozpin and take the power to end it all. She also made a mental note to break Cinder's legs and then beat her to death with them.

All of the teams from the Vytal Festival fought the Grimm. Pyrrha ran past Team RWBY, Team ABRN, Team SSSN... They were all engaged in combat. Team JNPR was also fighting some Nevermores that threatened to take down the air-trams that transported fearful civilians off of the floating Arena. Jaune giving covering fire, he shot _Conference Call_ into the faces of many encroaching Grimm. He was heroic.

A roar filled Pyrrha's ears. A massive Grimm, like a dragon or Wyvern flew towards the Academy, it's body dripping with black ooze. The ooze fell and when it landed, it spawned more Grimm. An overwhelming attack. She took notice of Jaune and Ozpin. She waved to Jaune and ran off to meet Ozpin, Jaune following shortly behind.

"Pyrrha needs me! Stand your ground!", Jaune commanded. Ren and Nora didn't seem to hear him. They just continued to defend the landing platforms.

**Chapter Whatever is done. The End of the Beginning is the End.**


	8. Beginning of the End is the Beginning

XXXXX

Chapter 8: The Beginning of the End is the Beginning

XXXXX

Jaune and Pyrrha found themselves riding an elevator down into a 'secret' area beneath the Academy. Professor Ozpin remained silent. Pyrrha had brought a plus one, which was unexpected. Ozpin still had a use for the boy, nonetheless.

As the elevator doors opened, Pyrrha and Ozpin ran off. "Arc! Guard the door!", Ozpin commanded. Although Jaune wanted to join his beloved, he stood his ground. Whatever had caused this attack could be aiming for them.

Pyrrha and Ozpin reached the Aura Transfer Machine. A Lotus Eater Machina.

"Are you ready?", Ozpin asked.

"I am, Professor.", Pyrrha stated.

The Spartan climbed into the empty pod, ready to receive the Maiden powers. "_We can really do anything..._", she heard gunfire in the distance, and calmed herself. Jaune could handle himself. He was a skilled gunslinger. Everything was going to be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen.

Several minutes passed. Jaune was growing bored, nobody was coming after them. An ominous ding heralded the arrival of the elevator. As the doors slowly opened, a mid-life crisis bitch stepped out and took notice of Jaune, she looked both surprised and a little annoyed. Jaune fired first, his shotgun slamming into his opponent with no success. He pulled his shield and attempted to fire _Cutting Edge Bitch_ at the bitch that was attacking him with the same amount of success, his opponent just conjured flaming glass shields to protect herself. He transformed _Conference Call_ into Bastard-sword mode and swung heroically. He failed and was knocked backwards by a blast of burning energy. Jaune took a massive hit to his face, he clutched it as it burned him. He was dazed by the attack and knelt in agony.

Pyrrha beat her fists against the interior of the pod. She felt heat creep up her spine as the Fall Maiden's powers were starting to transfer to her. Her eyes exploded in light, a flame extending off of her brow. She felt incredible. The powers of a goddess. Through the tiny window in the tube, she saw Jaune fall. She saw him launched by some unseen enemy.

"Jaune!", she called helplessly.

Jaune was already starting to recover. He held his face. "Owhhh. That bitch! I'm going to kill _her!_ I'm going to _kill them all!_"

Pyrrha felt the heat from the machine dissipate. An arrow seemingly came from nowhere and struck Amber's comatose body. She used her Semblance and forced the tube open, propelling the door into her attacker. The door slammed into Cinder, throwing her far from the Aura Eater Machine, an outline of Cinder's body embossed into the door. Her face was a mask of surprise forever frozen in the steel door as it whacked her into the farthest wall.

"Jaune! I'm here! How can I help!", Pyrrha called to Jaune, who was still stumbling around.

"First, you're going to get me a doctor! Then, we're gonna wipe those White Fang bastards off the face of the planet! And then... We're going to defy Fate itself!", Jaune swore

"What?", Pyrrha asked.

"It's going to be so good. We're going to scorch the freaking planet in fire. There's going to be screaming. White Fang are going to die left and right... I can't wait!", Jaune said in shock.

"Jaune, snap out of it!", Pyrrha screamed. A large scar in the shape of a lambda was emblazoned onto Jaune's face. It missed his left eye, though. His blue and green eyes stared at her in sheer rage.

"Pyrrha! Take Jaune and go! Get out of here! Find Qrow, Goodwitch and Ironwood! The tower cannot fall!", Ozpin commanded. He whipped out his cane, which had more functions than originally thought. He readied himself and launched forwards in an attack on his attacker.

Cinder Fall kicked the door off of herself as Pyrrha carried Jaune away. Cinder looked at Ozpin. "You know, she was right about you... You never know when to quit."

XXXXX

Pyrrha lead Jaune to the ruined courtyards of the Academy. The tower loomed over them.

"Jaune, get to town. Get to a doctor! I can hold them off!", she commanded.

"No... No you can't. I'm not letting you go that easily, Pyrrha!", he scolded.

"Jaune... I'm so sorry.", Pyrrha said as she used her Semblance on Jaune's armor. She threw him far away, the boy landing several hundred meters from her location. "I have to do this on my own. It's my _destiny_."

Jaune landed, in a daze. He fought for his Scroll. Pyrrha wasn't answering hers, it was probably back in the Vault somewhere. He called the first person who would pick up.

"Ruby! It's Jaune! Listen to me! We need to get to the top of Beacon Tower! Pyrrha is in danger, she's... She's going to get herself killed!", he yelled.

"Jaune!? Where are you?", Ruby asked in panic.

"I'm just outside of the Academy. Get here now!", he commanded.

Ruby turned to Weiss.

"It's Jaune. Pyrrha is in trouble. I have a plan.", she said.

"You always do, Ruby.", Weiss stated.

XXXXX

High above in the Beacon Tower, Cinder Fall looked at the Wyvern she commanded. She was interrupted by a spear and a shield flying towards her, followed by the Spartan, who had grabbed a few fistfuls of Maiden Power. Pyrrha launched towards the wacky mid-life crisis girl.

"...Really?", Cinder noted.

"Time for you do pay for what you've done!", Pyrrha said as she kicked off the wall towards Cinder. She pulled her weapons back and attacked again, hitting Cinder with a grazing shot and cutting her opponent's arm.

"Well, then. Let's begin..." Cinder said calmly.

Pyrrha attacked first, using the small amount of Maiden magic to hold Cinder at bay. She launched her shield, hitting Cinder in the face a few times, marring the woman's beauty. Cinder raged. Glass fragments launched towards Pyrrha, deflected by the nanofibre mail. Pyrrha floated upwards, kicking off the ceiling to land behind Cinder. She pulled her sword and held it to the woman's throat.

"You'll never win, Cinder. It ends tonight!", Pyrrha called into Cinder's ear.

Cinder heated the blade of the sword before sundering it.

"And you won't either. Maiden versus Maiden and I've got more experience than you'll ever know...", Cinder called.

Pyrrha looked shocked. Her weapon was gone. She really didn't know how much Maiden power she had gotten or how to use it. She used her Semblance on the metal in the room, pulling clockwork gears off the walls and into Cinder. She attempted to crush the strange woman with the weight. It didn't work.

Cinder fought back, she tossed the imprisoning gears like they were nothing. Pyrrha stood back as the gears flew past her. A fragment of one of the gears slammed into her, knocking her to the ground with her shield just out of reach. Pyrrha looked at Cinder in realization. _Destiny_.

Using her Semblance, Pyrrha called her shield to her. She threw it out with the last of her Semblance and Aura towards Cinder Fall. The momentum would hopefully decapitate the older woman. In the same instance, Cinder conjured a glass arrow and fired it. Pyrrha's shield shattered the arrow on impact, but the arrow reformed again with Cinder's Semblance and continued its trajectory. It hit Pyrrha in the ankle, bringing her to the ground as her shield flew off into the distance.

XXXXX

Ruby Rose had a plan. It was awful. Weiss managed glyphs as Ruby and Jaune ran up the side of Beacon Tower. Explosions rang out as the top of the tower disintegrated. They were almost to the top. They were within reach. They were about to defy gods.

XXXXX

Pyrrha gasped as the arrow struck her ankle. She pulled the arrow out and attempted to stand again. Without her Aura, she fell back down again, this time facing her attacker.

"Awh. So determined. How does it feel to have a power you were never meant to have? Does it feel good to be a Maiden? Or at least part of a Maiden? Or don't you feel anything at all, because you have nothing? You are nothing! You're just a waste of good looks and flesh!", Cinder mocked.

Pyrrha just tried to scoot herself away from Cinder. Her _destiny_ was coming. She realized that she could never escape it. She thought of Jaune and what he'd said. Of what their lives would be if this had never happened. She thought of herself, old and gray, surrounded by grandchildren recounting her stories, an elderly Jaune by her side embellishing every moment. A future she would never have. Tears crept from the corners of her eyes.

"Do you believe in _destiny_?", Cinder asked as she pulled back another arrow, this time aimed at Pyrrha's chest.

"No.", Pyrrha responded.

Ruby and Jaune eclipsed the edge of the tower's apex. They were within sight of Pyrrha and Cinder. Jaune outstretched a hand in realization of what was about to happen. He cried bitter tears as he knew what was about to happen. He shut his eyes and made a wish to whatever gods there were that he could change what was about to happen. _Fate_ and _Destiny_.

Ruby stood at the edge of the tower in shock. Pyrrha was held point-blank. Her opponent not backing down. A few words were spoken between the two before the arrow was fired into Pyrrha's chest. Pyrrha's arm going to the wound and her body wracked with pain, the red-haired girl gasped a few times in agony before falling. Jaune saw this and cried out. "NO!"

Ruby just looked at her friend, dying with an arrow impaling her. Her fate sealed. Ruby began to cry. "Pyrrha!", she screamed as a bright light erupted from her eyes.

Cinder shot, her arrow hitting Pyrrha in the chest, in the soft leather above her left breast. The arrow burned and Pyrrha gasped in pain. Except there wasn't much pain. Pyrrha expected to feel the arrow burning away at her internal organs as she was slowly burned to ash, but there wasn't any pain, not really. There was just intense heat as the burning arrow was held to her chest. The arrow _had_ pierced her armor, particularly her bodice, but was held in stasis, by the nanofibre mesh Jaune had goaded her into purchasing. It prevented the arrow from impaling her and ultimately killing her, but didn't deflect any of the heat. It hurt. A lot. Pyrrha gasped as the arrow burned her flesh. Cinder had turned away focusing on something else, a bright light flashing over her. What had just happened?

XXXXX

"It's alright. I've got you kiddos. You're going to be fine.", a gravelly voice said.

It was still hazy. Nobody knew what had happened. Static filled the air. A blond-haired man fiddled with his Scroll.

"I've got nothing."

"Just turn it off, the CCT is down. We have no communication, Tai."

"I know, Qrow. I was just being hopeful."

XXXXX

Pyrrha woke up in pain. Pain in her ankle and a fading pain in her chest. She was in an unfamiliar bed somewhere. Sunshine beamed through the window next to her. Jaune looked at her in concern. Jaune wore a mask now, it covered his wounded face. It was an exact copy of his old face and was pinned to his skull with metal clasps. It was a little unnerving.

"Pyrrha? Are you in there?", he asked.

"Jaune? Where... What... How?", she stammered.

"Shhh, now. You're okay. That old Trevali armor saved you. That alcoholic guy, Qrow found us on top of the ruins of Beacon Tower. He brought us here to his in-law's house in Patch.", Jaune noted. "You're actually doing a lot better than the others. Ruby has been comatose for a few days. Yang... She's been maimed by the White Fang... Ren and Nora are still okay, though. They came here as soon as they knew we were alive."

"What about the rest of Team RWBY?", Pyrrha asked.

"Weiss disappeared, she was taken back to Atlas by her sister, so she's probably fine. Blake... Blake is a Faunus, and she never made it out of the city. We don't really know what happened to her. Maybe Yang does, but she isn't talking about it.", Jaune said. "That weird girl, Penny was brought here as well. She was recovered from the Amity Arena and brought along with the others."

"Oh... That's... What about our teachers? Ozpin? Port and Oobleck?", Pyrrha asked again.

"Port and Oobleck are downstairs talking with Taiyang Xiao-Long, Ruby and Yang's father. Ozpin is missing, he may have given his life for ours. Goodwitch was killed in combat trying to get to Ozpin... Professor Peach is leading the recovery effort in Vale and Ironwood left for Atlas. My uncle and his best friend had some important news for him." Jaune explained.

"Ozpin and Goodwitch... They're gone?", Pyrrha said in realization.

"Yeah. They're both gone. We're all that's left of Beacon. The CCT network is down, and communication with the rest of the world has been cut. Our Scrolls still work for local communication, but we have no way of reaching anyone else.", Jaune stated. "I don't know if any other teams managed to survive."

"What about... What about our enemies?", Pyrrha continued.

"Roman Torchdick is dead, he was eaten alive by a Grimm. Emerald and Mercury are MIA, nobody found their bodies, so it's up in the air right now. Cinder was somehow turned to stone and burned alive. She was taken into custody as an 'heirloom' by the authorities, so I guess she's out of our hair for a while.", Jaune explained.

Pyrrha sighed. The battle hadn't been won, but it hadn't been lost either. It was a draw, for all she knew. Vale was in ruin, Beacon was uninhabitable and most of her allies had either fallen or disappeared. She was still alive, though, and she planned to stay that way.

"Jaune. That mask is... Unnecessary.", she mused.

"It protects my face, Pyrrha. It's another Nanofibre creation from Atlas. Apparently Trevali Arms sold most of their tech to the Atlas Military. My father had this commissioned after he'd heard I was injured.", Jaune noted.

"But you don't need it. No matter what happens, Jaune. I'll always love you, just as you'll always love me.", she said.

"I know. I know you will, but my family wants me to represent them, so I _have_ to wear it. Besides, I'm even more _handsome_ with it, right?", Jaune said.

"You... are. I... I guess it just works, doesn't it? Just like the armor you made me get. You'll always be _handsome,_ Jaune, at least to me.", Pyrrha concluded.

Pyrrha got up out of the bed. She'd laid for long enough. Her team had to do something. They couldn't just mope and mourn forever. "What do we do now? I don't have my weapons anymore... We need to do something! Anything!"

"We have a lead. And I have some new weapons for you for protecting the heir to Hyperion.", Jaune said as he handed the Spartan her new weapon and shield.

Pyrrha's new shield was elaborate, it was a small discus-like object. As she grasped it, it expanded, launching out a force-field that made the shield as large as her previous one. It glowed red, matching her hair color. She also looked at the sword, it was a simple xiphos. She also grasped it and expected a similar result, its blade was soon outlined with another reddish glow. It was a plasma-enhanced sword. The reddish outline was made of pure energy and enhanced the cutting power of the blade. She tested her new weapons out, they were well balanced and finely crafted. She tucked them away for the time being.

"This is great, Jaune. I love them!", Pyrrha noted in surprise.

"I hope you do. It's a gift from me to you.", Jaune said.

"So what kind of lead do you have? Where are we going to go?", she asked. Pyrrha was full of questions today.

"That drunken idiot Qrow has some kind of lead in Haven. We need to get across the ocean and find it. It's not going to be easy, but we're going to be Team JNPPRR now. Penny and Ruby are joining us. Yang still won't come out of her solitude, so we'll need to leave her here until she recovers from whatever happened.", Jaune said.

Pyrrha and Jaune took a moment to appreciate life by greatly enjoying their time with each-other by having time inside each-other. Sex; It was lots of stress-relieving sex.. They were both alive and well. Ruby was still comatose however, and Yang wasn't talking. Penny Polendina was inactive and awaiting on some replacement batteries from Atlas. It would be a while before anyone was able to travel far from Patch.

XXXXX

Elsewhere...

XXXXX

Ironwood paced around his office. He regretted some things he'd said to Ozpin before the Fall of Beacon. His trusted associates had tried, repeatedly, to warn him of a possible attack. They'd told Qrow Branwen to tell him, which he'd blown off as the usual drunken rabble. After sighing long and hard, he turned to Team VRML (Vermilion).

Clarkson McDiarmid sat calmly in his obsidian-colored robes. He scratched his head nervously. Tonar Valkyrie played with his hammer-mace, juggling it a bit. Risha Lynchwood had her feet up on the table, her cowboy hat pulled over her face. Liana Merlot sat staring at her teammates, she wore a green sequined dress and played with her Semblance, conjuring small vines that wrapped around her fingers.

"Clarkson McDiarmid, have you found out who was behind this attack?", Ironwood asked.

"Ahh... Yes. I have. It's... Her...", McDiarmid responded. Ironwood looked shocked, but returned to his usual serious tone.

"Risha and Liana were able to send a message to Qrow. He was supposed to inform you. He flew out of here like a bat-out-of-hell.", Tonar Valkyrie stated.

"I think he's actually a crow, Tonar.", McDiarmid corrected. Tonar shot him a look.

"I did receive that message. I may have ignored it due to the _messenger_, though.", Ironwood admitted.

"Don't shoot the messengers, James. I've done that too many times...", Risha noted, the gunslinger adjusted her hat.

"Well, we tried. I was able to apprehend some of our attackers during the raid, but they won't say much, they just scream a lot.", Liana noted.

"They never stopped screaming, Liana. They're still screaming. You used vines with _thorns_ to subdue them.", Tonar nitpicked. Liana shrugged.

"Any word from Qrow?", McDiarmid asked.

"No. He's gone silent again. Given the situation at Beacon he may be dead.", Ironwood stated. He slammed his fist into his desk, leaving a dent. "We need to find the group from the Festival. Team VRML, head to Mistral. Try to get in touch with the others."

"Any idea who we're looking for?", Tonar noted.

"Yes. A young girl with silver eyes, a blond-haired girl with anger issues, and a cat Faunus with a bow. Also, keep an eye out for Tassiter Arc's son, Pyrrha Nikos the Pumpkin Pete mascot, Tonar's niece and Lie Ren, the survivor from Oniyuri.", Ironwood stated.

Team VRML looked shocked. They had family involved in this. McDiarmid stood and left the room abruptly, Tonar followed him out leaving Risha and Liana alone.

"We're dealing with some pretty important people. Probably best we bring the goodie bags!", Risha exclaimed before pulling Liana out of the room.

Ironwood sighed as he was left alone in the room. "Everything I did. I did it all for the best."

**McDiarmid looks sorta like Jeremy Clarkson and dresses like the Emperor from Star Wars; his epiglottis is full of bees. Risha is Nisha from Borderlands: Pre-Sequel. Tonar Valkyrie is a ginger-haired version of Thor. And Liana is basically Poison Ivy from Batman except with grape vines. **

**Some of you didn't realize that Handsome Jacques is a play on words because **_**Jaune**_** is a French word. He's not going to become like Jacques Schnee. He's Handsome Jaune, the hero of this story. He's **_**never**_** going to be an evil child-torturing psychopath like Jacques and he's never going to fall to the levels of a filthy bandit like Raven Branwen. He's here to make Remnant a paradise. As real heroes always do. ...And then, he's going to wake the Warrior. **


	9. The Next Pleb

XXXXX

Chapter 9: The Next Pleb

XXXXX

Pyrrha woke up to loud yelling downstairs in the kitchen. She walked down the stairs of Taiyang's house to a very strange scene. Professor Port was rambling in a drunken stupor about frogs.

"I'm jus' saying! I don't like them putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin' frogs Grimm! Do you understand that? Grimm Frogs!", Port slurred. Taiyang and Oobleck chuckled.

"It's not funny! I'll say it real slow for you, Oob. Grimm... Frogs... Won't you fight the frogs!?", Port rambled.

"I think you have had enough wine for a lifetime, Pete.", Oobleck said as he pulled the bottle of Deathstalker Wine from his colleague's hands. Port began to pound on the table like an infant.

Pyrrha laughed along with her Professors. She was noticed immediately.

"Ah! Miss Nikos! Awake already? Sorry about Professor Port, it has been a long day for him. Professor Peach and her boyfriend have started a war between the construction workers fixing up Vale and the Plumber's Union. A most ridiculous feud.", Oobleck spat.

"Haha... I can imagine. That sounds... awkward. How is everyone doing?", Pyrrha asked.

"Well, we've been better. Vale City is recovering, but the school is still attracting Grimm for some reason. We think it's that giant frozen Grimm at the top of the tower.", Taiyang noted.

Qrow suddenly burst in through the front door, he stumbled over and pulled down the flowery curtains near the kitchen window. Taiyang looked at him. "Qrow! My mother gave me those! Be careful!".

"Hey guys. I just got word from my contact. We need to move out now! The Plumbers are threatening to blow up the water main!", he rambled.

"What!? They can't do that!", Taiyang yelled. He pulled Oobleck out the door. Port stumbled after them.

"If they do that, then the frogs will take over! Let's go fight for our lives!", Port slurred as he wobbled after Taiyang. A few moments passed and the sounds of a motorcycle speeding away heralded that Taiyang and the two Professors had left.

"Go wake up your friends. We're leaving too. Or should I say, you're all leaving. You need to get to Haven. Ozpin had a trick up his sleeve and it all relies on you getting there.", Qrow noted.

Pyrrha ran back up the stairs and began to awaken her teammates. They just stared at her and her hideous brown pajamas. Jaune quickly dressed, he was already aware of the 'mission'. Nora and Ren took a little more convincing.

"Well, uhh... There's a pancake factory in Mistral. If the Grimm overrun it, then there won't be any more gourmet pancakes. It'll drive the prices up tenfold and nobody but the rich will be able to afford them!", Pyrrha lied.

"Ren! We need to go to Mistral! Let's go!", Nora panicked.

"Nora. I thought you liked _my_ pancakes. I put love into them.", Ren said sadly.

"Ren! There's nothing like a gourmet pancake! You can do so much with them. We need to save the factory!", Nora yelled, awakening Ruby in the next room. "If the pancakes are in danger, cookies and ice-cream are next! We'll _die_ without those!"

"Oh yeah. Also, Atlas is placing an embargo on all ammunition. They're trying to outlaw guns because they're too dangerous. We need to get to Haven and convince them otherwise!", Pyrrha lied again.

"What!? That's ridiculous! How are we supposed to protect the people without our guns? Am I just going to yell at a Grimm until it dies of annoyance? Come on, Nora. We're leaving.", Ren said in shock.

"Very good, my apprentice. Soon you will become a master of the arts of bullshit.", Jaune noted as he watched his two other teammates scramble out of the room.

"I... I just did what needed to be done. We need to get to Haven. Ozpin hid something important there.", Pyrrha said.

Pyrrha got dressed. She pulled the nanofibre mail over her body again, dressing in her usual armor. The hole from the arrow still marred her bodice. It was a reminder of times of desperation and hopelessness. Jaune noticed her staring at it as she glanced into the mirror at herself. He applied a silly smiley-face sticker over the hole. She smiled, Jaune was still Jaune. And she was still Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl. Once they were both dressed for success, they headed downstairs and out of the house.

Outside, Ruby and Qrow awaited them. Ruby had loaded Penny's inactive form onto a hand-truck and moved it into place. She was determined to bring along the robot. Qrow just stared at them.

"You all have a long way to go. It'll be perilous. I'm not sure if we'll even get the answers we need, but we have to keep moving forwards. Good luck to you all. I'll see you around.", he noted before walking off down the road.

"Hey, Jaune. Are you still... Okay?", Ruby asked.

"Never been better, Rubes. Pyrrha is here, she's doing great and nothing bad ever happened.", Jaune said.

"Haven is a long way. Are we all ready to leave?", Ren noted.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be.", Ruby said. "Let's go."

Ruby struggled with the hand-truck. Penny fell off and landed in the snow face-first.

"Okay... Why don't we just force-feed her some lightning dust? It'll be easier than trying to drag her along with us.", Jaune said.

"Already on it!", Nora said as she slammed a vial of dust down Penny's throat.

Penny reactivated almost instantly.

"Salutations! Oh. It appears we're in a different location!", Penny noted. "Oh, congratulations to you, Pyrrha Nikos. You beat me fair and square!"

"Hehehe... Yeah... Sorry about that.", Pyrrha said.

"No, you won. You found my only weakness.", Penny noted. "Where are we going? This white stuff on the ground reminds me of Atlas."

"Haven Academy. We have business there.", Jaune said, he wanted to avoid as much conversation with the 'normal meat girl' Penny, she reminded him too much of the Clappers from back home.

"Oh, that sounds fun! I like a good road-trip with friends! Where's the bus?", Penny said.

"We're walking there. Let's go.", Jaune said as he pulled the rest of his team away. Maybe using the hand-truck would've been less annoying.

"Oh. Well then. That sounds fun. I like a good hike with friends!", Penny noted again. This robot was a little... peculiar.

The strange Team JNPPRR headed off down the road. Haven awaited them. It would be a long and perilous trip. Tomorrow was another day.

XXXXX

Beneath a purple and reddish sky, Grimm climbed from pools of black ooze. Beowolves, Creeps, Ursa and others were born from liquid death. A green-haired girl and gray-haired boy looked at the scene in front of them from high above. They were based in a derelict moon-base project. Tassiter Arc of Hyperion Weapons and Technology had attempted very poorly to build a geostationary moon base as a luxury apartment and corporate headquarters for his company. He failed to realize that Dust didn't work outside of Remnant's atmosphere. The whole thing had come crashing down a few weeks after it had been launched. The oddly H-shaped structure was half-buried in the purple ground.

Emerald and Mercury continued to stare out of the window until they heard a rasping cough from behind them. Cinder Fall had ushered them back to the large boardroom table where more of their allies sat. A strange Faunus cackled uncontrollably next to her. A man with a mustache twirled the ends of his facial hair like a cartoon villain and a large mountain-like man just sat in the small chair awkwardly.

"Yes, yes. Keep you minions in check, dear.", the mustached man said.

Cinder grunted and made other unsatisfactory noises. She was in a full-body cast that covered her mouth. Her limbs stuck out at odd angles. She sat in a powered wheelchair that was placed close to the table.

"What's that? Nothing to say?", the mustachioed man said.

"Grrrggrrr urrggh hurrrgrghhh", Cinder gasped.

"I'm half convinced to congratulate the girl who bested you.", he continued.

A door slammed open and then shut quietly.

"I thought I told you to fix that door! Watts, Cinder, Hazel... Tyrian...", a white skinned and rather intimidating 'woman' said. She had pale skin with dark black veins coursing all over. Her red eyes pierced everyone with malice.

"Ah, Mistress Salem. Perhaps, you heard about young Cinder's failure.", Watts, the mustachioed man said.

"It was not a complete failure. She has still killed the other Maiden and successfully liberated dear old Ozpin of his life. Beacon is ours and Vale lies in ruins. The other kingdoms will soon fall to our might. Be a little more open-minded.", Salem stated.

"I think she should go after the one who did this to her! An eye for an eye, after all!", Tyrian cackled.

"Silence! I will decide what happens next!", Salem raged. She wondered why she ever even bothered to train the ridiculous Faunus. Oh right, it was because Watts said she needed a pet scorpion and that all the real bad-asses had pet scorpions.

"What would you have us do, Mistress? Hunt the silver-eyed girl?", Watts asked.

"Why yes. What a good task suited for my most trusted acolyte, Tyrian. Hunt her down and bring her to me.", Salem stated. Tyrian laughed like a maniac. "Alive. She needs to be alive, Tyrian. No disintegrations.". Tyrian pouted.

Cinder grunted. She didn't like Tyrian and he was a little weird. She also didn't like Watts or anyone else except her minions and Salem herself.

"Watts, you're taking over Cinder's position until she heals. Find our informant in Mistral. Hazel, find Adam Taurus. Make sure he doesn't ruin our plans with his arrogance. Use force if you have to. We need the White Fang and their continued support.", Salem noted. The two others nodded in agreement.

"And the others... Uhh... Green-haired girl and moody boy. You're going to go along with Hazel. Make sure he doesn't make an ass out of himself trying to stop Adam Taurus from making an ass out of himself... It'll make sense when you get there.", Salem said. "Now leave! I need some time alone!"

The rest of the group left. Emerald and Mercury pushed Cinder's immobile form from the room. Salem was left alone in her boardroom. She dialed a number on her Spooky-Phone Grimm.

"Yes, hello? Is this Oobleck Eats, the food delivery company that delivers anywhere? Good. I'll have the General Ironwood's Chicken with extra sauce. I know, I just like my food extra wet. $13.54? Okay, my name is... Carmine Sandiego... Of course that's my real name! ...I'm located in the Blighted Crucible, my card number is...", Salem said.

The delivery person was never heard from again, but the chicken was very tasty and Salem didn't have to share with any of her 'friends'.

XXXXX

It was morning. Oscar Pine slapped his alarm clock and got dressed for the day. He pulled on some green muck-boots and his overalls. It was time to be the Compost King! He opened the door to his loft, he had been given a room just above the barn, his family allowing him a little bit more freedom now that he was a little older. He slid down the ladder and opened the door of the barn. It revealed a pleasant sight, shining sun, a bright blue sky and the beautiful forest beyond that. He climbed aboard his 'Farmy Puff Jr.' miniature tractor and got to work. These turnips weren't going to harvest themselves! The tractor backfired a few times, but a louder noise shook him and the ground around him. He looked to the treeline to see a pink mushroom-cloud rising slowly in the far distance.

"Nora!", Ren yelled from the distance. A large crater had been blasted into the ground. Many trees were sundered and lay in large pieces throughout the area.

'What? I just did what Jaune said to do. I hit it harder and Penny helped me aim the shot. We won!", Nora said. A large amount of broken stones littered the area. A Geist Grimm had once inhabited those rocks.

"I don't think he meant literally...", Ren stated out of breath from the combat and avoiding Nora's own friendly fire. They had also started a large forest fire with Penny's eye-lasers. Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby were farther back trying to keep it from spreading to the village they'd sworn to protect. They failed.

A few hours later, they all stood tired and dirty from the encounter in the forest. The Grimm had been the easy part. The forest fire had proven to be a problem. Their attempts at simply blowing the fire out had caused it to set most of the rest of the forest on fire. Ruby's Semblance turned into a fire tornado, Pyrrha had nothing to work with since there wasn't any metal around, Ren and Nora just stood in shock at what they'd done and Penny managed to carve a fire breaking trail into the ground with her eye-lasers. They let at least half of the forest burn itself out before heading back to the small village.

"And then the Geist summoned some Fire Grimm and burned the forest! We did our best to stop the flames from reaching the town.", Jaune said.

"Fire Grimm, eh? Must've been rough. Well, thank you for taking care them for us. I can't imagine what would've happened if the Fire Grimm managed to get into the town!", The Mayor said believing Jaune's story.

"Aw, yeah. It was no biggie. Just doing a hard day's work as a Huntsman!", Jaune noted.

"Well, I wish I could give you more for your troubles. Just remember, if you ever need anything we're forever in your debt.", the Mayor concluded.

Ren looked at Jaune in shame. He was lying again. They _had_ started the fire, they really did light it and tried badly to fight it. It wasn't burning, but the feelings were churning.

"Haha, yeah. So, where was that blacksmith again?", Jaune said.

After a few moments of heavy praise from the rather oblivious Mayor, Jaune and Team JNPPRR reached the blacksmith who was busy crafting some special armor for them.

"Thar ye are, Lass. It'll be a bit heavier than your old... uh... armor. But it'll protect you from any kind of piercing damage!", the blacksmith said as he noted Pyrrha's lack of armor.

He set a modified bodice on the table, it was red and gold made from the remnants of Milo and Akouo. A set of golden pauldrons laid next to the chest piece, the two halves of Akouo turned into a brilliant set of shoulder pads.

"There's... uh. A changing room in the back, I doubt you want to put it on in the middle of the shop...", the blacksmith stated.

Pyrrha excused herself, grabbed her new armor and headed off to the 'changing room' in the back of the store. It was a closet. There was a broom inside of it. The broom and a black trashbag had googly eyes glued to them. Pyrrha sighed and turned the odd items away from her before removing her old bodice and putting on her new one. She strapped the pauldrons down over her shoulders and clipped them to the chest piece. She looked at herself as best she could in the confined space. Her new bodice was similar to her old one, but it had more metal in the chest area, removing the 'cleavage window' and adding more protection. She still wore her nanofibre mesh chainmail and the red accents on her new armor accented it nicely. Her pauldrons were halves of Akouo with the cut-outs in the shield allowing her flexibilty to raise her arms over her head. All in all, she looked like a professional Huntress now, not a tournament fighter. She exited the broom closet and tripped over the googly-eyed items on the way out.

"Agh! Broomhilda and Garboman! What have ye done!?", the blacksmith called as he watched his inanimate friends fall out with Pyrrha. "Leave! Leave now!"

After being kicked out of the shop, Team JNPPRR just stood in awkward silence. This was getting weird. They were in a weird place.

"Well, that went about as well as expected. He really did make you some nice armor, though.", Ren noted.

"Yeah, it's getting dark. We should probably find somewhere to stay for the night. We're in a strange land and have no idea where to go next." Pyrrha noted.

"I saw a Hunter's lodge near the town entrance. I think they had some vacancies.", Ruby said.

"Then it's settled. We stay the night here and stock up on supplies tomorrow morning. Maybe buy a map or two.", Jaune stated. He lead the team off to the Lodge. Tomorrow would hopefully be a better day. In the back of his mind, Ren thought they were forgetting something...

Salutations! I am Penny. Nice to meet you, Broomhilda. You have beautiful hair!", Penny said to the googly-eyed broom.

"Oh, that's very nice of you to say. I like your eyes.", the blacksmith said in a squeaky voice as he animated the broom. "My husband is cooking dinner tonight. Why don't you stay?"

"Oh that's very nice of you, but I don't eat. I'll still stay and keep you company though.", Penny noted, oblivious to the fact she was talking to a 45 year old man pretending to be a housewife represented by a broomstick with googly eyes.

"Oh, how lovely! I can prepare the guest room for you!", 'Broomhilda' stated as the blacksmith opened the door to the closet again.

"Oh, it's very spacious. Thank you for your generosity!", Penny stated before she walked into the closet and faced the wall. The door was quickly shut and locked behind her.

The blacksmith pulled out a small Scoll-like device. "Yeah it's me. I've got her. She was running around with the cereal mascot and some other punks. Now about my payment..."

**Chapter 9? is done. Enjoy. **

**Addendum: If you haven't read my OC/EU Fanfic, Tales from Remnant, read some of it. I'm going to reference characters and stuff from it. It has like, 0 views, but it'll explain Trevali Industries and some other little tidbits. It's extremely long and was inadvertently written in 9pt Font. I'm sorry. **


	10. Chapter Ecks, X, Ten, 10: Forgetfulness

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Chapter Ecks: Chapter X: Chapter 10: Forgetfulness

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Weiss Schnee walked along the hallways of her grand mansion. It was beautiful and accented in white and silver. She thought about the hideous yellow and brown Arc family mansion and almost vomited. She continued her walk, thinking about her best frenemy Ruby Rose. She hoped the little pipsqueak was still alive, her time with her at Beacon was oddly fun. A voice startled her out of her trance.

"Hello, sister.", Whitley Schnee greeted.

Weiss hated her little brother. She liked to call him Shitley, because he was a little shit. She just turned to face him. "Hello, Shitley."

"Ah, Weiss, why the hostility. I'm simply greeting you today. Are you... Is that... Are you drinking from mother's personal stash?", he asked noticing the glass tumbler in Weiss' hand.

"Nope. This is from Father's stash.", Weiss noted before taking a swig of her father's finest brandy. It burned. She felt like a crow for some reason.

Whitley began to back away. "I... I'm telling Winter!"

Whitley was promptly knocked to the ground as Weiss smashed the glass into the side of his face. He laid on the floor of the mansion bleeding into their cashmere carpets.

"Klein! Whitley made me hit him again!", Weiss raged. Her butler came running with a 'clean-up kit' and dragged her unconscious brother off the carpeting before beginning to clean up the bloodstains. Weiss just sighed, now she had to go and steal more of that brandy.

XXXXX

"Do you believe in destiny?", Pyrrha eyes narrowed on the strange little sock-puppet of Cinder Jaune was holding out to her. They were in the Hunter's Lodge. The Hunter's Lodge didn't check ID's. Jaune was rather inebriated.

"Uh... No?", Pyrrha said. Jaune promptly blew on the end of a straw, sending the protective straw paper flying into Pyrrha's chest. She just stared at him in annoyance before leaving the bar and heading off to find her other teammates. Jaune was fine. Probably.

Ruby Rose sat alone at a table watching Blake's 'World Star' video from their first days at Beacon. The Faunus looked so... angry? She really enjoyed beating up Cardin Winchester.

"Hey, Pyrrha. I'm worried about Blake. We haven't heard anything about her. Do you think... Do you think she's dead?", Ruby asked sadly.

"Of course not. She's probably on a boat headed to the special tropical beach town where all the other Faunus live in harmony!", Pyrrha said hopefully. Ruby didn't believe her.

"You don't have to sugar coat it like that. I'm not a little kid. I just hope she's okay.", Ruby said.

Pyrrha moved off again, leaving Ruby alone. She looked around for Penny, but didn't see the strange robot girl. She shrugged, Penny was probably off doing robot things like eating electricity or whatever it was robots did for fun. Pyrrha almost started a conversation with Nora, but stepped away when she realized the orange-haired girl was playing a Test-Your-Strength arcade game. These things never ended well. She was suddenly knocked forwards from an impact from behind.

"Malty! Malty! We haves to go back! Back to the future!", Jaune slurred.

"Jaune, what? Wait... Malty?", Pyrrha stammered in confusion.

"Jus gimme a moment. I needa fire up the time machine!", Jaune slurred as he uncapped a bottle of liquor and began to drink from it.

"Jaune! No!", Pyrrha yelled. It was too late, Jaune had just ingested the Sandkeg's Hide, a horrible drink from the deserts of Vacuo. A few nanoseconds later, Jaune had passed out. He slumped down on the ground. Pyrrha dragged her unconscious boyfriend to the nearest couch and laid him down on it. He'd be fine. Probably. The front doors of the Lodge suddenly burst open.

A very large and very angry man charged into the room. He had piercing red eyes, bronze hair and a square jawline. He looked absolutely furious. He was dressed in matte black Legionnaire's armor with a plaid armored kilt covering his loins and a small golden crown topped his head. A large diamond greatsword adorned his back. He stomped over to the bar and waited.

A few moments later, a shorter Pigeon Faunus entered, he wore a hideous set of salmon-pink greaves and a purple 'People Like Grapes' logo t-shirt. Instead of a regular mouth, the Faunus had a prominent beak and squawked when he talked. He stood in front of the first man angrily.

Following the Faunus, a truly massive man ducked his head to enter the Lodge. He had a luxurious red beard that hung down to his waist and wore an amalgamation of various armor pieces in various shades of blue and green. A huge morning star hung off his belt. A pair of small round glasses were perched on his nose.

The final member of the strange team entered. He was equally furious. He had messy brown hair and wore a blue armored hoodie. Two different pistols hung from holsters on his belt. He walked up to the first man and got in his face.

"YOU! This was all your fault!", the first man raged.

"No, it wasn't Rhames. If you would've listened to us instead of going 'okay!' and shooting the chalice out of the bandit king's hands this would've all went fine.", the shorter angry man said.

"Minstrel is right, you didn't want to hear any tactical explanation.", the giant man said.

"You'll _learn_ by _doing_! Let's not waste time standing around and just go!", Rhames argued.

"Awk! That was awful, guys. But we still won... even if we didn't get paid.", the bird squeaked.

"Shut up, Javelin!", Rhames shouted.

"Don't tell him to shut up, he was the only one who actually tried to do anything!", Minstrel argued.

"Oh really? Because it seems like you and Jonk just decided to see how many Grimm you could get railed by!", Rhames shouted.

"Guys, we're Huntsmen. We need a little more... maturity.", Jonk noted.

The bartender interrupted them. "Ah, Team MRJJ (Mirage), back from Shion Village? How did it go?"

"It went fine. The village is safe and the bandits are dead. The Grimm are gone for now.", Jonk noted as his teammates continued to argue behind him.

"Well, it certainly seems like you had a tough fight. Here, take a little extra this time.", The bartender said as he handed Team MRJJ 500 Lien which was enough for them to buy themselves absolutely nothing except alcohol.

"Just keep it. We'll take food and drink as payment.", Minstrel said in disgust as he saw their 'payment'.

Pyrrha just stared in confusion. Who were these guys and how did they ever get anything done if all they did was bicker with each-other all day long. She shrugged in incomprehension.

"Awk! Look guys, it's Pyrrha Nikos! The news reports were wrong!", Javelin noted excitedly as he recognized the famous fighter staring at them in complete and utter confusion.

"News reports?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, the news reports from Beacon. They said you're dead.", Rhames stated as he drank the Sandkeg's Hide.

"Oh... Well, I'm definitely not dead, as you can see.", Pyrrha said in mild shock.

"Yeah, but she could be like that other girl we met who we _thought_ was Pyrrha but she wasn't...", Minstrel said.

"Oh yeah, Athena. But she had purple hair and a _really_ intense resting-bitch-face.", Jonk noted.

"I really am Pyrrha Nikos.", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, don't care. Nice outfit though.", Rhames concluded before going back to arguing with his team.

Pyrrha just stood there in mild fury. She hated the fame, she hated being recognized, but right now she really wanted a little attention.

"Is something wrong, Pyrrha?", Ren asked.

"Nope, everything is fine. Just fine. I'm really doing... just fine...", Pyrrha said through gritted teeth.

"Well if you need someone to talk to, I'm here if you need me.", Ren concluded.

Pyrrha headed upstairs to their room. She flopped down on the bed. Today was interesting. Today was incredibly weird. They were in a weird place. She hoped everyone else who survived the Fall of Beacon was having a similar adventure. Tomorrow was another day.

XXXXX

High above in the clouds above Mistral, Risha and Liana stood in silence. The target they had acquired was rather... odd. Sent along with them in their retrieval mission were several dozen Frappers, combat variants of the Clappers that were sent to Beacon with Jaune. Their odd passenger danced happily to the dubstep that the smaller square robots blasted.

"So... I can see the resemblance, but... I don't recall Tonar ever being this... happy.", Liana noted.

"Maybe he is when he's around friends? He and McDiarmid get along really well.", Risha said.

Penny Polendina did the robot dance along with the Frappers. She was flying back to Atlas! It was going to be fun and she had so many things to tell her 'father' when she got back. Her new friends were nice too! She liked the one with the hat and liked the woman in the green dress even more.

Liana called into their command. "Command Post Alpha, this is Liana Merlot, we have Nora Valkyrie in transit."

"This is Command. Proceed to docking bay 4. General Ironwood is expecting you.", command said.

The two members of Team VRML wanted to get off the ship as fast as possible. The strange personality dissonance between 'Nora' and Tonar was disturbing them into realms that weren't thought possible.

XXXXX

The next morning, Team JNPRR headed off from the strange little village. Jaune had convinced them to leave Penny behind, she was weird and would probably get them all killed in various fun new ways. Besides, the village wanted a dedicated protector and Penny loved doing just that. It was good for everyone.

Jaune had purchased several maps of the area and several spare maps in case they lost one. He'd also purchased the Remnant World Atlas, something his father swore by. If he didn't use the massive book for its intended purpose, it would certainly make a great shield or bludgeoning weapon.

"Those other... Huntsmen... from the Lodge said Shion Village was just up the road here. We should be getting close.", Pyrrha noted.

Smoke rose from the treeline up the road from them ominously.

"Ren! Look!", Nora shouted.

"I see it, Nora! Let's hurry!", Ren shouted as he pulled the rest of the team along. Had Shion been attacked again? They were going to find out.

Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha's jaws dropped. It was sight they'd never forget. It was something even more horrible than the Grimm they'd fought in the few days past.

It was the annual Shion Village Fyre Festival.

Pyrrha took notice of a familiar face. A woman in a red dress highlighted by burn dust stitching floated above the large bonfire in the middle of the town. Her hair was black and styled over one of her eyes. Her eyes were amber and Pyrrha's eyes lit up with the Maiden power she still had.

"You!", Pyrrha shouted.

"Huh? Who are you again?", the woman asked, not recognizing the red spartan.

Pyrrha flung her new shield out, the energy barrier extending as it flew towards the woman's face. The woman suddenly realized what was happening and tried to block. She failed. Pyrrha's shield struck her in the face at full force with a dull thunk. The woman was knocked out and hung limply from the harness that held her aloft above the bonfire. A team of festival crew members began to lower the unconscious woman from the scaffolding. The crew members just glared at Pyrrha.

"What the hell are you doing!?", a large fat man screamed at Pyrrha.

"I... That was... Um.", Pyrrha said awkwardly.

"You just knocked out Kindel Fyre! She's the host of the _Fyre_ Festival!", the fat man spat.

"I'm sorry... I thought she was someone else.", Pyrrha apologized.

"You better hope she's still fit to sing, otherwise it'll be _you_ up there singing your heart out!", he concluded before he stomped off in a rage.

Pyrrha walked over to Kindel Fyre as she laid face first in the dirt. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I hit you."

Kindel Fyre just sat up shakily. "Ow.. ow... ow... ow... Whaaa? What just happened?"

The festival crew pointed at Pyrrha. Jaune and her team had backed away and looked around sheepishly.

"I hit you with my shield. I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. It's just that... your dress reminds me of someone I hate.", Pyrrha stammered.

"Oh. Oh! Hey, it's Pyrrha Nikos. I can forgive the whole shield-to-face thing for _you_. And I guess it's working if you hate my dress. It's supposed to do that. Only 2 of these were ever made.", Kindel said.

"You're... not a Maiden, by chance are you?", Pyrrha asked.

"Me? A maiden? No of course not! I have suitors in every town. From Atlas to Vacuo. What a strange question. You're not celibate are you?", Kindel said, the question flying over her head like a ditched airship.

"You know what. Nevermind.", Pyrrha said as she left Kindel. This was weird.

"Hey, well... Welcome to the Fyre Festival! Enjoy yourselves!", Kindel called after Pyrrha as she walked away awkwardly.

"Wow. You really showed her who was boss, Pyrrha. Didn't I tell you that Cinder Fall was turned to stone and burned alive? She's not here.", Jaune said.

"I know. I just panicked for a second.", Pyrrha said taking a sudden interest in the ground.

"Well, we're here. One step closer to our goal. Let's just relax and enjoy ourselves! There's a whole festival and thing going on. We deserve this.", Jaune bargained.

"I guess you're right. It's just been a long strange trip. I thought when I graduated Beacon, things would be a lot more heroic.", Pyrrha noted.

"Come on. Let's go. We uh, we need to stop Nora from eating all the food from the food carts anyways.", Jaune concluded.

Pyrrha and Jaune headed off into Shion Village. This town was considerably larger than the previous one and had a working train station. They'd party for a while and enjoy a break in the action before heading off on their... _destiny_.

XXXXX

Elsewhere...

XXXXX

Older women in robes ran around frantically. The scrying pool they'd used for generations had cracked. One of their visions had gone wrong. The younger Oracles in the Temple just stood in silence. They were never wrong. This was something new. Something terrible.

One of the elders stood in front of the cracked scrying pool and focused their Semblance into it, trying to find a reason for this. "_No fate, but what we make..._" a voice rang out through the room. She focused harder, concentrating on the source of the voice. She saw a world bathed in fire, a lambda floating in air, a terrible beast unleashed and several strange tombs scattered around the world. She saw a great warrior, now twisted into a Grimm figure standing over a ruined city. And then she saw the Spartan next to it, a spear lancing out towards the soothsayer ending the vision.

"No heroes in the end...", the elder croaked.

XXXXX

Tonar Valkyrie and Clarkson McDiarmid stood in relative shock with a thousand-yard stare as they realized that Liana and Risha had brought the wrong person back to Atlas with them. Tonar was personally insulted, as if the other orange-haired girl could possibly have been related to him.

"Salutations! My name is Penny! Pleased to meet you!"

General Ironwood just pressed a button on a small remote, the strange robotic girl powering down instantly.

"What the hell is this!?", Tonar shouted.

"Well, we thought she was Nora. She has the same hair color you do, anyways.", Risha noted.

McDiarmid just fell backwards in laughter, ignoring his teammates.

"You- You think _that's _Nora Valkyrie!? The Valkyrie family consists of nothing but noble warriors! Not whatever _that_ was!", Tonar raged.

"Well, it was a simple mista-", Liana was cut off as a hammer-mace knocked her out. A burst of vines and flower petals flew out of her body on impact.

"It was a simple mistake. We didn't have a lot to go on other than she had orange hair and she traveled with the cereal girl.", Risha explained.

"Silence! You have still recovered an important piece of Atlas technology. You'll still be rewarded. Please get back in the field as soon as possible.", Ironwood stated.

"At once, General.", Team VRML responded. McDiarmid and Tonar joined their teammates. They wouldn't be making the same mistakes again.

XXXXX

Weiss Schnee carefully crept into her Father's office. He kept all his best liquor in the top drawer of his desk. There wasn't anyone inside at the moment. She carefully opened the top drawer of his desk, a few small 'Bluebell Performance Pills' rolled around freely. She grimaced. She lifted the small bottle of Atlesian Brandy and tucked it into her dress. Mission Accomplished!

Weiss turned to leave, but noises outside the door forced her to hide. She quickly ran over to her Father's wardrobe and jumped inside it.

"Father, Weiss hit me with a glass. She's stealing your booze!", Whitley complained loudly.

"I know about that. She's following in her mother's footsteps. But don't worry, Whitley, you won't have to deal with her for much longer.", Jacques Schnee stated.

Weiss shuddered. Her father was planning on making her 'disappear' like so many other house servants did.

"Now get out of here, Shitley! The more you ramble on, the more you're costing me!", he scolded. Whitley ran off crying.

Jacques Schnee reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of pills. He tucked them into his pocket before heading through a different door. "Now, then. Time to get down to business...", he said before he locked himself into his own personal bathroom.

Weiss left the wardrobe. The sounds from the bathroom were... inhuman. She left her Father's office with a feeling of intense disgust covering her entire body. She didn't even want to remember the horrific Pyrrha Nikos body-pillow hidden in the wardrobe. Her father had some deep-seated issues.

Weiss ran back to her room and locked the door. She truly hoped the full bottle of brandy would erase any and all memories from today.

XXXXX

**Chapter Ecks, X, 10 is done. Hurray. Yes, Team MRJJ is Achievement Hunter. Vol. 4 is going off the rails due to... unforeseen circumstances involving Beacon Tower and the defiance of **_**Fate**_**. **


	11. Chapter 11: Title Too Long For Internet

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Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: The Magical Land Where Everyone Lives In Harmony That Is Totally Not A Euphemism For Death

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Seagulls flew over the ship. A bright blue ocean stretched on for miles. A black cat vomited into the seawater uncontrollably. Blake Belladonna rested her hands shakily on the railing. She continued her assault on the ocean, keeping people and Grimm away. The ship's captain really wanted to help her, but he also didn't want to be covered in vomit, so he just left her alone for now. A figure with great abs watched Blake from high above in the Qrow's Nest of the ship.

XXXXX

Yang flipped through the channels on her television. She watched the news for a bit. Without the CCT network, they had to rely on the old ways. Lisa Lavender, the reporter, told her all she needed to know.

"The war between the Constructor's Union and the Plumber's Union has escalated. We have an exclusive interview with the Luigi Brothers at 7...", Lavender stated.

Yang sighed, she wondered how this could even happen.

"Beacon Academy remains inaccessible, however the influx of Grimm is providing good target practice for the displaced students...", Lavender continued.

Yang rolled her eyes, the news was being too hopeful.

"Next up: Remembering our fallen. The monument in memory to Pyrrha Nikos' tragic death at the Fall of Beacon will be unveiled in Argus next week.", Lavender said mournfully.

Yang scoffed. The cereal mascot was actually in her house earlier, wearing her clothes and eating all of her father's food! Pyrrha was _still alive_. This was fake news!

"Adam Taurus and his brother Fjord have claimed responsibility for the attack on Beacon Academy, more on this later at 8!", Lavender said. "Now, it's Professor Port and his theory on Grimm Frogs. Professor, what is going on with the frogs...?", Lavender said. Yang turned off the television. They never had anything important to say anyways.

"Yang! I'm home!", Taiyang called as he entered the front door. Yang just rolled her eyes. Her father was starting to get on her nerves. She began to realize why both of his wives left him, he did nothing but complain about the condition of the train station's maintenance and ramble about his 'glory days' as a young Huntsman.

"Oh man. I've got a special present for you. It's straight from Hyperion in Atlas. It's state of the art and I know you are going to love it!", Taiyang gushed. Yang just stared at him.

"Dad, unless it's a brand-new arm. I'm not interested.", Yang said.

Taiyang just opened the long box and revealed exactly that. "Eh? Eh? What do you think?"

"How does it even work? Do I just like... put it on my stub and...", Yang said as she picked the arm up. It was already painted yellow in Hyperion's corporate colors.

"Oh yeah, just slip it on and hit the button. Man, when I said I knew Tassiter Arc's son, he just sent this right over. It even has a holographic display in the palm of the hand. You don't even need a Scroll anymore!", Taiyang said.

Yang slipped the arm on. It fell off. She put it back on and held it there. "So, is there some kind of-", she was cut off. A dozen small needles in the socket of the arm shot into her stub, the needles integrating with her own nerves. It hurt a lot. It was more pain than Yang had ever felt and she screamed so loudly every dog and dog Faunus could probably hear her. Birds flew out of the trees outside of their house, glasses broke, Yang screamed louder. On the other side of the world, Ruby Rose felt a sense of unnerving as she tried to win herself a stuffed animal at the Fyre Festival. Farther south, Blake Belladonna held all of her ears; there was a ringing in her head that wasn't there before. After a very long time, Yang finally stopped screaming.

Taiyang stumbled around in confusion for a few seconds. "So! Do! You! Like! It!?", he yelled deafened by the sonic attack his daughter had unleashed. Yang flexed her new fingers, she grabbed at the TV remote and tossed it in the air before catching it again.

"Meh. It's okay."

XXXXX

Back on the ship that tossed and bounced over the waves, Blake was still too busy hurling over the railing. The strange ringing noise in her head had stopped, but her seasickness had gotten worse. She'd taken off her bow, her hair was disheveled and she wanted to die. She just hung over the railing in agony.

"Hey, looks like someone forgot to pack their seasickness medication!", a voice said. A hand held out a small vial of nausea pills.

Blake took them without glancing up and downed the entire package in one gulp. She turned to her hero. "Sun!? What are you doing here?"

Sun Wukong, the self-proclaimed Monkey King stood next to her heroically. His abs glowed in the sunlight.

"Oh you know, just seeing the sights.", he said.

"You're not supposed to be here!", Blake exclaimed.

"Why? I'm just going where... you're going.", He said.

"Sun, are you following me?", Blake asked, mild paranoia creeping into her skull.

"Well... Sorta? I saw you run off after the Beacon Tower fell... I knew you were up to something... I had to find out.", he stated.

"Sun, you wouldn't understand...", Blake noted.

"No, I get it! You're on a mission of vengeance! You're out take down the White Fang like some kind of super hero. I can't believe you'd undermine me like that, I wanted to take down those freaks first!", Sun extrapolated.

"That's not it at all, Sun. I'm not going near the White Fang. I'm going home! You should leave. You don't belong here.", Blake exclaimed.

"Oh... Well... I'm sorta already on this ship. And you've seen how scary and weird the world is getting. Just because you're not looking for the White Fang doesn't mean they're not looking for you!", Sun noted.

Blake thought for a few moments. Sun was right. Even if she was actively avoiding the White Fang, they were probably still looking for her. Unless she hid in a hole somewhere they'd eventually find her, and there wasn't enough catnip in the world to help her when they did.

"Fine, you can come with me. Just don't do anything stupid.", Blake said reluctantly.

"Oh you won't have to worry! This is going to be great, I've never been to Menagerie before, it'll be like a little vacation.", Sun said as he wrapped an arm around the awkward cat.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in the incredibly unhappy purple and red lands, Cinder Fall sat beside Salem awkwardly. They were in the grand boardroom again. Salem looked more annoyed than usual. Cinder wished her minions were present with her, but they'd gotten 'economy' train tickets in their journey with Hazel. Mercury and Emerald were both stuffed unceremoniously into Hazel's luggage and hurled into the baggage car of the train like bags of dirty socks. They were incredibly uncomfortable.

"Do you feel that, Cinder? I can sense your trepidation.", Salem said.

Cinder made some attempts to move in her full-body cast.

"I'm only going to ask you this once and I expect a clear answer.", Salem said coldly. "Did you eat my leftover General Ironwood's Chicken?"

Cinder looked at her master with fear in her eyes. She managed to utter out a single word. "No."

"Oh thank gods. I was really going to kill you there. You probably wouldn't have made a very nice human-skin-rug anyways. Was it Tyrian? It was Tyrian wasn't it?", Salem asked.

Cinder just looked at Salem. Her master had interesting ways of obtaining information.

"Yes.", Cinder croaked.

"Great! He's going to be deader than Ozpin when he gets back here! You can watch if you want, it'll be a great moment in 'Learning to Never Piss Off Your Boss'.", Salem said happily.

Salem's Spooky-Phone rang.

"Oh? Right yes. I'll be right down. You have change for a 500 Lien chip, right?", Salem answered. "The pizza is here. You'd better get started on that recovery, Cinder. You're really missing out on this Oobleck Eats thing."

Yet another delivery driver went missing, never to be seen again. The pizza was amazing, though and Salem shared it with her 'friends' who were able to eat. They were Grimm. The Grimm liked the cheesy stuffed crust and side of garlic knots.

XXXXX

Oscar Pine was finished for the day. He'd heard from another local that the forest had burned down outside of his family's farm. Fire Grimm apparently, and a team of Huntsmen had defeated them and saved the village. Oscar headed into the barn's back room. He set his tools down near the doorway and began to wash up. He was covered in manure.

As Oscar washed his face, something caught his eye. His reflection was different. Instead of his usual youthful face, an older gray-haired version stared back. He did a double take, but the reflection stayed the same.

"Am I going crazy?", He asked.

"No. You're not.", his reflection replied.

Oscar shrieked and knocked over a rack of towels.

"I am Professor Ozpin.", the reflection stated.

Oscar Pine just passed out. He was tired and covered in manure and was probably losing his mind.

XXXXX

Back in the Fyre Festival, Team JNPRR had won a fair amount of prizes and had eaten a lot of interesting food. They had spent the entire weekend having fun, but now it was time to get back on track. Jaune had purchased a train ticket, they were going to Higanbana, a large town with a popular bar and club. Nora was overly excited, she'd just spent the weekend at a music festival and now she wanted to go clubbing. Ren just sighed and gave up trying to dissuade her.

"You know, this has been nice. I was really expecting more Grimm.", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah, I guess we're just lucky.", Ruby said.

"Haha, luck. Oh my sweet summer child, Ruby...", Jaune laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Ruby asked.

"You'll know when you're older, kiddo.", Jaune said.

"Come on, guys. We're going to miss our train.", Ren stated.

Team JNPRR said their goodbyes to the nice people of Shion Village and their Fyre Festival friends. They quickly boarded the train to Higanbana and sat down to relax. It had been no less than 8 minutes before the train had stopped again and the doors opened to Higanbana. Jaune paid a lot for the tickets, but the town was actually within walking distance. A shame. It was also raining. So much for luck.

The odd team walked in misery to the nearest Inn and bought a room. They were soaked to the bone and needed some time to dry off.

Far behind the team of adventurers, Qrow Branwen followed them. He made sure nobody saw him, he was actually the one behind their safety, taking out the threats of Grimm. He stopped at a bar directly across from the Inn Team JNPRR stayed at. He watched them through the window and sipped his bourbon. "Luck... Right..."

At their room in the Inn, Ren and Nora played a traditional game of Mistrali Checkers, Ren teaching Nora about the tactics and methods behind the game. He described ancient Mistrali warriors ending wars with the simple game. Pyrrha and Jaune sat across the room next to the fire. They were attempting to warm up after the drenching rain.

"Jaune. I've noticed you haven't been using your Semblance very much. You encouraged me to use mine more often, but...", Pyrrha noted.

"Oh yeah. You don't really need it. I think I've already done my job as a leader.", Jaune said

"Jaune, we can always use your Semblance. It just has so many uses!", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, I told you what it does, it's just 'Inspiration', it doesn't really do anything.", Jaune said.

"Err... No... You said it was 'amplification' when we met in the Emerald Forest... Jaune, is there something wrong?", Pyrrha asked. She was beginning to get a little worried.

"Nope, nothing is wrong. Amplification, inspiration, it's all the same right?", Jaune said nervously.

"There is something wrong, Jaune. You can tell me. We've made it this far, what could possibly be so bad you won't tell me about it?", Pyrrha urged.

"Alright, fine. You win, Pyrrha. My Semblance? I've got absolutely jack-all. I don't have one. I've got the world's largest Aura and absolutely nothing special besides that. Just handsome looks, a cunning mind and a quick trigger finger.", Jaune relented.

"You've got nothing? No Semblance? How... How is that possible?", Pyrrha stuttered. Jaune was strong, he'd helped them out numerous times. He had to have something, right?

"I dunno, I just never unlocked it. Or maybe I did and I just don't know what it does? I can inspire people, maybe that's my Semblance? I just never noticed anything special like yours or Nora's. My Semblance is probably like Ren's, which we've never seen yet either.", Jaune said. He was right about Ren, nobody except Nora had seen it in action and she wasn't telling anyone about what it did.

"Jaune. We can find that out together. I've got the Fall Maiden's powers, well, a little bit of them. Maybe like half? I have no idea how any of that works, Ozpin didn't really give me any instructions. We can both find out what we have, together. I promise you.", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, that'll work.", he said

"_Maiden powers and no instruction on how to use them.", _he also thought_._

"What does it feel like?", Jaune said.

"Well, my eyes start glowing and I feel stronger. That's about it. Supposedly I can wield magic, but I can't even wrap my mind around that. It was just a fairy-tale, Jaune. And I'm living one right now.", Pyrrha noted.

"Have you tried to use it in combination with your Semblance? Have you maybe tried to conjure up a fireball or something like that? I dunno.", Jaune asked.

"Yes. I have. It amplifies my Semblance and I feel like I have a greater control over it. But... I can't do anything else with it. Jaune, your Semblance will feel the same way when you first get it. You'll feel powerful and strong, but you won't really know what's happening. You just need to trust your instincts.", Pyrrha added.

"You do hear yourself, right? Trust your instincts. I think that's the key to all of this if we want to unlock the mysteries of our super-powers.", Jaune said.

"What? I didn't say tha-", Pyrrha remembered Ozpin mentioning her and Amber's Aura merging. "_Just trust me. I can help you. You need to believe in your abilities._"

"Yeah you did. You said we have to trust our instincts when it comes down to this. Semblance or Maiden powers.", Jaune noted.

"I... We just need to let the power flow through us. Become one with it. Let it guide us. That's how we control our abilities.", Pyrrha said, although it didn't feel like she was saying it.

"That's deep, Pyrrha.", Jaune noted.

"One day it'll become clear. You'll realize you have a gift. Sometimes it's hard to unlock your Semblance, sometimes it takes a specific trigger, and sometimes it just turns on like a switch. I promise, you though. We'll figure this all out together.", Pyrrha concluded.

Pyrrha's mind itched, there was a tiny ringing in her head that she'd been blocking out. She thought it was nothing, maybe just stress and lack of sleep. But now that ringing was louder and it was forming words. She could faintly hear a voice in her head. It was the one that attacked Kindel Fyre in Shion. It was the one who tried to help her out on Beacon Tower, it was there for her and now it was getting louder. "_You have to trust me._"

XXXXX

In Atlas, Weiss Schnee decided to make her escape. Her Father had grounded her after he'd realized she had stolen all of his alcohol. She was confined to her room and stripped of her title as Heiress. She was nobody. She had nothing. She might as well become a mascot for Captain Fluff's Blueberry Surprise cereal and start wearing less clothing when she fought. It would probably be a quicker end than wasting away in her room.

Weiss focused, she used her Semblance, conjuring a large fist and used it to break out the window in her room. Without a thought, she jumped out of the broken window. Wherever and however she landed, it was better than dying of starvation while being ignored by your entire family. She closed her eyes as she fell from her massive mansion. She said goodbye to Team RWBY. The next life would have to be better than this one.

Rather than painting abstract artwork on the streets below, Weiss crashed through the sunroof of a passing airship. She landed on her back in surprise. She opened her eyes in pain as four unknown individuals stared at her.

"Aiiee! What the hell?", a green dressed woman screamed in surprise.

"I think that's Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Dust Empire.", a cut and muscled man noted.

"Oh, yeah. That's definitely her, Tonar. But she's not the heiress anymore.", A strange robed man said.

"Yeah, she got demoted. Just like us.", a strange woman in a cowboy hat said.

Weiss Schnee had just crashed through the sunroof of an airship occupied by Team VRML. The four older Huntsmen just stared at her expecting a response.

"Well. I... Thank you for the ride?", Weiss said. She had committed to falling out of the tower, she really didn't know if it was the booze talking or if she was really done with life in general.

"Hey. You fell into our ship. The only way you could've done that is if you've given up. Stand up, girl! You're a Huntress. Act like one!", Liana shouted.

"I... I don't know what to do anymore. My life has gone sideways. I have nothing left!", Weiss cried.

"You have a lot left. You have a life to live any way you choose. You can't let the past shape you. You have to change life itself.", McDiarmid noted. He sounded a lot like Jaune, except older.

"But I was supposed to take over Schnee Dust! I can't do that now!", Weiss cried.

"And I was supposed to be the Emperor of Mantle. Look how that went. Look, don't let the events happening now force your hand. Let the events happening now influence your decisions. Look at what's happened and learn from it. Don't repeat your mistakes.", McDiarmid concluded.

Weiss stopped crying. She realized why Pyrrha followed Jaune. She realized why Hyperion was on top. She also realized in a metaphorical sense, she had been reborn. She didn't need to be the heiress to become successful, she was still a Huntress. And she could create her own future. She could become something greater than her family ever perceived.

"Now, then We have a mission and I guess you're coming with us.", Risha noted.

"Okay.", the Heiress said hopefully.

XXXXX

Oscar Pine suddenly stood on a train station platform. He had no idea how he had gotten there. He looked around. He'd packed his bags, he had a letter from his family wishing him well in Haven and he had a small amount of Lien and some food. It was raining.

"How? How did I get here?", he pondered.

"I'm sorry, Oscar. We need to be at Haven Academy. Things are in motion beyond your comprehension.", his reflection spoke from a puddle.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?", Oscar shouted.

"I believe I have been reborn, albeit sooner than expected. And you, are my vehicle.", the reflection noted.

"Who... Ozpin? You said you were Ozpin before... What am I?", Oscar fought.

"You won't remember that. I'm truly sorry. We have to go now.", the reflection noted.

Oscar Pine passed out again, his mind unable to interpret a talking reflection. Ozpin awoke and took control.

"Now then. Time to get to Haven.", he said. He swiped Oscar's credit chit against the ticket machine. It bleeped back a notice of insufficient funds. Ozpin cursed.

"Here. Don't let such a small obstacle stand in your way.", a large intimidating man said.

The ticket machines spat out a few dozen tickets to Mistral City. Ozpin, inhabiting Oscar's body stared at the huge man in recognition.

"Thank you.", Ozpin said in Oscar's voice.

"No problem.", the man said.

Ozpin took the train ticket and ran aboard the train as fast as he could. He'd just run into Hazel, a man who blamed him for his sister's death. Hazel didn't know who Oscar was, but if he said anything else, he'd know. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.

XXXXX

A large foghorn sounded loudly. Blake and Sun stumbled off the ship together. They had been enjoying some beverages on the ship as they didn't bother to check ID's. Blake knew where she was going. Sun had no idea where to go as he wandered around in awe. They were in Kuo Kuana, the largest city in Menagerie. He darted around like tourist, taking photos with his Scroll and pointing out interesting things to Blake. The cat Faunus ignored him and kept walking towards her destination.

"Aw man. It _is _real! My dad always told me my granny sailed away to the island where all the Faunus lived in harmony, but I just thought he was talking about death! I was only 9 years old, so I believed him! This is awesome, I've never seen so many Faunus in one place!", Sun exclaimed.

"Well, the island is 2 thirds uninhabitable desert, so everyone tends to gather near the coastlines..." Blake noted.

"Awww, Sun! It's been so long! Here, enjoy a muffin!", Sun's grandmother said from a small kiosk. Sun Wukong grabbed a handful of homemade muffins as he ran back to Blake.

"See? It wasn't a euphemism at all!", he said happily.

"Wait. Your Grandmother owns 'Granny's Muffin Shack'?", Blake asked.

"I guess so! So what does your family do?", Sun asked.

"They're... an interesting group.", Blake noted as she lead the rambunctious monkey man around.

Sun stopped dead in his tracks. Blake had reached a hilltop overlooking the suburbs of Menagerie. A large amount of mansions occupied the mountainous area. A horse Faunus held a party as a gathering of other Faunus participated in the celebrations. The horse Faunus was vomiting cotton candy off of his deck for some reason.

"Menagerie Hills! That's where I want to be!", Sun crowed. "Living in Menagerie Hills!"

"It's not all that great, Sun. All of the Faunus were forced to live here. We made the best of it. The best we could.", Blake noted sadly.

"Blake, where I'm from. It isn't all that great. I'm from Vacuo, we don't even have things like this. This is like a dream come true! Now I know why Granny wanted to get out of the wastelands so badly...", Sun stated. "Here, I could be rolling like a celebrity!"

"Sun... I should be getting home.", Blake said.

"Oooh! Where do you live? Is it that one with the little awning? Or that one with the endless pool?", Sun said in excitement.

Blake just took his hand and aimed it towards her family's house. It was the largest one in the center of all of the mansions. It was made of strange cylinders held up on platforms, it had a few landings with rope staircases between them. The whole house was covered in some kind of strange beige carpeting. "That one."

Sun's hands went to his face as he called out in excitement. "Oh my gosh. That's so awesome!".

A few moments later, Sun and Blake were standing on the front porch of her home. Blake went up to the door, a large intimidating black panther lunged at them in the form of a doorbell. Blake hit the button hesitantly. A rather upbeat tropical jingle rang out.

"I really wasn't expecting that. Let's do it again!", Sun said as he reached for the button. Blake knocked his hand from the air.

The front door opened slowly, a pungent scent wafted through the doorway. Kali Belladonna stood in front of them, her eyes as red as the setting sun. Her ears perked at the sight of her wayward daughter.

"Ohhhh heyyyy, Blake! We just got a new batch of catnip! You're going to love it... Who's your friend?", Kali said in euphoria. "What have you been doing anyways? It's been like what, 20 minutes since I last saw you?

"Kali! Who is it? Is it the dealers again? Woolter White and his lackey?", a voice said from within the house.

Within a few moments, a larger and more intimidating Faunus occupied the doorway.

"Oh, Blake. It really is you! I've missed you so much. Come in, come in... Bring your slave too.", Ghira noted.

Blake and Sun just exchanged glances before stepping into the strange house. They were both in a very weird place.

**Chapter 11 Bankruptcy has been resolved. We have funding for more interesting titles again. Enjoy. **


	12. The Bipping Point

XXXXX

Chapter 12: The Bipping Point

XXXXX

Team JNPRR had stayed long enough in Higanbana to warm up. They'd headed out on the road again, walking down the dirt roads. They figured if all the trains were the same, with little 8 minute segments between stops, they'd save money by not buying the overpriced tickets. Jaune sighed. It was a long walk. His boots were already caked in mud.

Ruby stared at the map. They should've made it to the next town by now. She stared harder, willing the map to change, nothing changed. They were still walking along a muddy dirt road.

"So what's on the agenda today, guys?", Nora asked.

"Walking and more walking. Walking until our feet fall off.", Jaune said.

"Shouldn't we have reached the next town by now? Higanbana was close to a few small villages.", Pyrrha said.

"There's nothing here, but mud and old stone roads. We probably should've taken the train, but nooooooo, let's just walk there, that's the cheaper way! You guys know who I am right? I am Jaune Arc, heir to Hyperion of Atlas, I have enough money to _buy_ a train! We could've been safe and dry onboard a first-class train to Haven right now!", Jaune complained.

"Hey, what's that?", Ruby said as she noticed a tower in the distance.

"I dunno? Maybe a town?", Jaune said. "Maybe we finally reached civilization after walking for a billion hours?"

"Jaune, it's only been 2 hours since we left Higanbana. We haven't been walking for that long...", Pyrrha noted.

Team JNPRR had reached a small town. It was empty, save for the small team of Huntsmen. Nora looked around inquisitively, Pyrrha stood guard, Ruby looked for anyone, Jaune didn't really care and Ren just seemed nervous. The town was empty. Buildings lay in various states of repair. It was as if whoever was here left in a hurry.

"Nobody is here.", Ruby said.

"It's almost like this place has been abandoned... The buildings aren't damaged, they haven't even been completely built. What happened here?", Pyrrha noted.

Ren stood over a small sign. He brushed off the face of it revealing the name of the town. 'Oniyuri'. "We should go. There's nothing but bad memories here.", Ren said.

"Ren? What's wro-", Nora said in realization as to where she was. "Ren. It's okay. We can just leave."

"What's going on?", Jaune asked.

"Oniyuri? I've never heard of that town...", Pyrrha said.

Ren sighed. "Oniyuri. Mistral's Mountain Glenn. People who were unhappy with the laws of the kingdom settled here. They hoped this place would give them the freedom they desired. They pooled their resources and hoped to one day build a kingdom of their own. My parents were advocates of this place. They lead the people here. And they were its rulers."

"What... What happened here?", Pyrrha asked.

"The same thing that always happens.", Ren stated sadly.

"Grimm?", Ruby asked.

"Just one. Just one horrible Grimm.", Ren said, looking to the distance. "We should go."

Team JNPRR headed out of Oniyuri. Ren said nothing more, he just looked around in near paranoia. This was unlike him, he was usually calm and stoic. Nora tried and failed to calm him. He just shook his head and stared at the ground.

"Guys! Movement up ahead!", Pyrrha called. She saw someone or something running through the ruins.

Ren pulled one of his weapons and held out a small ornate dagger in the other hand. He stood at the ready. Nora brandished her hammer, Ruby unsheathed Crescent Rose and Jaune pulled _Conference Call_. Pyrrha looked around, eyeing the motion in the distance.

A strange creature jumped at them. It flew down from the heavens and aimed at Ruby, twin blades slashing at the smaller girl. Ruby blocked with her scythe and fired its sniper form forwards, knocking her attacker away. Ren didn't know what this was, it wasn't Grimm. He fired a few shots from StormFlower peppering the opponent with gunfire.

The strange thing dodged the gunfire landing a kick to Ren's chest. Ren tumbled backwards off balance. The attacker then aimed again at Ruby, this time anticipating her scythe's path and jumping off the blade. It kicked Ruby in the face and knocked her down.

Jaune fired repeatedly with his shotgun, shots splitting into more shots. He fired incendiary rounds this time, lighting the cloak the stranger wore on fire. It tossed the burning clothing away and revealed itself. It was a Faunus. Particularly, an insane and cackling scorpion-like Faunus.

"Ohhhh hohohohohoooo... Hahahahaaaa...", Tyrian cackled. "Oh what fun! I'm not here for you, or you... or you... I'm here for the girl in red."

"Well, you'll have to get through us, first!", Nora yelled.

"Challenge accepted!", Tyrian said as he flipped into the air again, he aimed downwards on Ren and Nora, landing and split-kicking the two apart. He aimed his guns at Jaune and let loose a hail of gunfire, the blond-haired gunslinger dodge-rolling out of the way.

"What do you want!?", Ruby screamed.

"I want you, little rose. I'm here to whisk you away to a magical land!", Tyrian cackled.

"I don't wanna go with you!", Ruby declared.

"Well, I'm afraid you _have_ to. I'm going to take you there one way... Or another.", Tyrian announced as he drew his blades again. He poised to leap onto Ruby Rose when a bolt of lightning struck just in front of him.

Pyrrha had been locked in panic. Her team was being attacked. She couldn't use her Semblance on the blades that were attacking; they were made of some kind of ceramic and she had no power over that. She looked at Ren and Nora being kicked down. She saw Jaune dodging gunfire, his weapon useless. She saw Ruby Rose helpless, her slower attacks easily dodged. She saw a bad future and she decided to change it. Her eyes glowed and she felt every particle in the world come alive. She felt a flame creep up her spine and into her mind. She felt limitless and godlike. She looked and aimed. Then she fired.

"Halt! You shall go no further!", Pyrrha stated, the red-haired Spartan now hovering several feet from the ground.

Tyrian turned, his eyes went wide. "Oh. I am _very_ interested in _you_. Oh hohohohohooo Aaahahahaaa", he cackled.

"_You might not like this, but it has to happen. Don't worry. We're in this together_", the little voice in Pyrrha's head said. Pyrrha just looked at Tyrian. She saw a stranger abducted as a boy and trained to kill. He could've been anything else, but he made his decision. She looked at the possibilities ahead of her and she made her decision as well.

A popular theory was that lightning never struck the same place twice. Unfortunately for Tyrian, lightning struck several hundred times in the same place, over and over. Each time it fried the scorpion-like Faunus, he cackled in glee from the infliction of pain. He cackled and laughed like a madman. Pyrrha called down the heavens upon him. She didn't know who he was, but the little voice in her head did. Tyrian stumbled, shocked too many times to stand. He fell and stared at Pyrrha.

"And she failed! Oh she failed so badly! I'll see her soon. I'll laugh at her when she burns. I'll enjoy every moment of her unending torment!", he screamed.

Pyrrha's face was a grim visage. She wasn't unhappy; she was absolutely furious. She conjured up a tornado of fire, she focused the fire into a beam of pure incineration and aimed it upon the Faunus.

"Ashes to ashes... and Dust to dust... Burn for me, Tyrian. And know, I am coming for the rest of you.", Pyrrha said. She really didn't, she was still aghast of the power she wielded. Someone else spoke for her. Something hidden inside her own soul spoke for her. And it was terrible. Magnificent, but terrible.

The fire focused into a beam of melting heat hotter than a dying star and incinerated Tyrian. He died cackling, knowing that a specific _someone_ would soon be joining him. He stared at Pyrrha as he burned, giving a one-finger-salute as his body turned to ash and scattered in the middle of Oniyuri.

Pyrrha still raged. She watched Tyrian's death. She watched him disintegrate. She scattered his ashes with a gust of wind, erasing the scorpion Faunus from existence. She felt godlike. Unstoppable. She felt the fire inside her, changing her. She felt the world as it turned. She looked at her team and they stared back in a combination of fear and awe. She was interrupted.

A dark form landed in front of them. It landed in front of the group, weapons drawn. It quickly stood down. Red eyes looked into Pyrrha's glowing ones and narrowed. "Heya, Red.", a gravelly voice said.

"Qr... Qrow?", Pyrrha said in recognition. Her eyes stopped glowing and she slowly descended from where she hovered. The fire she felt rescinded slowly, leaving a dull burning sensation in her chest.

"In the flesh. We have a lot to talk about.", Qrow noted.

Pyrrha sighed. This was getting more and more complicated.

XXXXX

In a purple and red and very unhappy place, Cinder Fall sat at a conference table again. She was still in a full-body cast, but she could talk and wiggle her fingers. Her master seemed a little unnerved.

"So... Tyrian is dead. He was killed by a Maiden...", Salem noted

"Urrrrghhh... Uggghhh...", Cinder grunted.

"I know you can talk, so let's get down to business. Did you kill that Maiden? I need an answer here and I'll only accept one.", Salem said menacingly.

"No.", Cinder said in fear. Salem was awfully close to her face now.

"I thought so...", Salem said as she slammed Cinder against the wall with her magic, her body-cast breaking to pieces on impact. "Remember the lesson in 'Learning to Not Piss Off Your Boss'? Well, we're here, class is in session! And _you_ are going to _learn_ today!", Salem said.

Cinder was mostly healed, but her burns hadn't and still scarred her body. She attempted to stand again, but was yanked through the air by Salem.

"I hope you've felt pain. Because you're about to feel a whole new level right now!", Salem raged.

Screams echoed through the boardroom, some in happiness and most in horror. Salem hated when she was deceived. And Cinder would learn to never deceive the the one who kept you alive. A few Grimm far below heard the cacophony of misery and quickly left the vicinity. Even the creations of destruction didn't want to be present for this.

XXXXX

A small campfire roared. Qrow had just finished telling his story of the Maidens. The story of the four seasons as Ozpin had told him many years ago... Team JNPRR just stared at him. Qrow drank from his flask, his breath smelling strongly of whiskey.

"Really? No questions?", Qrow said in disbelief.

Pyrrha had a lot of questions, _"How did he get here? What was he drinking? Why did he drink so much? Why did he wear a cape? Was he Ruby's real dad?", _she thought.

Pyrrha just said, "Just one or two... How did you get here so fast?"

Qrow just thought for a moment. He technically was on official business, he had met with his sister earlier back in Higanbana. He recalled that interaction as he thought of something to tell the cereal mascot.

Qrow had sat down at a table in a bar, he was directly across from the Inn the Team JNPRR was staying at and could creep on them through the window. A waitress brought him a drink.

"The woman with the red eyes said to give you this.", The waitress noted.

Qrow just glanced to the 2nd level of the bar. He took his drink and walked up the stairs to meet the 'mysterious woman'.

"Oh, hey Raven. Seen Tai lately?", Qrow noted as he looked at his twin sister. She was roughly the same shape as Yang, but had crimson colored eyes and long feathery black hair. She just scowled at him.

"Not since Tai mistook _you_ for _me_. That was the last straw, Qrow.", Raven said.

"Aww, come on. It wasn't even that bad. He was _really_ drunk.", Qrow said.

"Nope, no. That was the last for me. Anything else, if he did anything else or anyone else I'd have been cool with it. But it was _you_. 'Whole Team Taiyang' managed to screw the entire team. Any port in a storm, apparently works for him.", Raven rambled. She really didn't like Taiyang.

"Uhh hey, did you hear Yang lost an arm?", Qrow changed the subject. He didn't want his sister to know that he still had a thing for Tai.

"Yeah I did. I also heard that those bastards in Atlas, Hyperion, gave her a shiny new one.", Raven said.

"Well, uhhh... Vermilion was demoted. How about that?", Qrow noted. He kept in touch with other uncles around the world who were also Huntsmen.

"Demoted from their already mundane jobs as stewards or teachers at the Academy in Atlas. Back on their feet and fighting again like Huntsmen. Wow, what a demotion.", Raven lambasted. "Do you have any actual news or are you just trying to make small talk, Qrow?"

"Well, it seems like a lot of cereal boxes have a prize inside of them. Pumpkin Pete's has a Maiden apparently...", Qrow said in code.

Raven's eyes went wide for a moment. She quickly returned to her normal apathetic demeanor. "Really. That's quite a prize. And what about the Fall? Does the little old lady in the tower have what she most desires?"

"No. She does not. And she won't have what she wants until the plumbers and utility workers stop fighting. But by then, she won't be able to get near it.", Qrow said.

"Good. And what about Ozzy?", Raven asked.

"Seems like he bit the head off a bat outta hell and is nowhere to be seen.", Qrow noted.

"Hm. Odd...", Raven said.

The cryptic conversation probably looked like madness to anyone in the bar. The twins just kept what they knew close and waited for a better hand of cards to be dealt.

"You could come back, Raven. We could still use you.", Qrow said.

"I'm well aware, dear brother. But now is not the time.", Raven noted.

"Well, keep on your guard. They don't know we have Fall, and I know you know where Spring is.", Qrow said.

"Always. Now, I have to be going. This was an interesting... chat.", Raven concluded.

Raven used her Semblance and katana and cut a portal into the air behind her. She left quickly. She had some things to take care of.

A glass shattered behind Qrow as he watched his sister depart. The waitress had seen the portal. Qrow just tossed her a 750 Lien chit. "You didn't see anything. Also, I need a double shot of this."

Back around the campfire, Pyrrha and everyone else waited for Qrow to respond.

"I'm on official business. I saw you out there, headed to that old ruin, Oniyuri. I was afraid you'd run into something you weren't prepared for.", Qrow stated.

"Oh. Well, that makes sense.", Ruby noted.

"So the maidens, there are always 4 of them? And their powers are only held by females... The last one that was in their thoughts.", Nora said.

"Yep.", Qrow agreed. "Afterwards, their souls become combined.".

"Like me, then. I think I've got a little bit of Amber...", Pyrrha said.

"Yep, right again. The Maiden's souls combine with the successors, so there's some kind of instruction on how to use the power. Amber was young and inexperienced in life, probably just a whisper on the wind. The more dominant soul remains in control. And obviously, yours is exactly that.", Qrow stated.

"_Oh. Okay..._", Pyrrha thought. "Why was that weirdo after Ruby?", she asked.

"Well, Ruby painted an odd picture at Beacon Tower. She has silver eyes and silver eyes have some interesting abilities. Some abilities that certain people fear. And I'm afraid that those same people have an interest in finding Ruby.", Qrow explained.

"Alright yeah, I guess that makes sense. What about the attacks on the schools, Why even bother with that? They're full of Huntsmen in training, why go to such a length for fear?", Jaune noted.

"Well, that's a long one, kid. Hope you're in this for the long game... Ozpin ever tell you about the religions around here? If you listened to his lectures, you'd know that he believed that only two of them were real...", Qrow said.

Qrow began to spin a yarn, a long tale about the creation of humanity and the gifts of creation from the gods themselves, the God of Light and the God of Dark, two brothers forever in conflict with each-other. The Relics, as they became known as and the true purpose of the Huntsmen Academies around the world.

Jaune came to realization. Huntsmen. They were the protectors of the Vaults that held the Relics. The Academies were built over the Vaults. And now, Jaune Arc was a Vault Huntsman. He and his team of misfits would have to find and secure the next one in Haven before the literal forces of evil could take control of them. He was going to be a real hero. The hero of his story.

"So yeah, there's that.", Qrow concluded.

"The forces of evil... You mean Salem?", Ruby noted.

"Not many people know who she is and that doesn't really matter right now. What does is securing the Vaults and keeping the Relics out of her reach. This story won't have a very happy ending if she gets them.", Qrow said.

Team JNPRR looked at each-other in shock. Qrow could probably be believed, even if he was a drunkard, he spoke truth while others tried to hide it. Qrow just spoke whatever was on his mind since his mind had no filters. And his mind didn't have any filters because all the booze had washed them away decades ago. They had a mission. Protect the Vaults, find the Relics, and defy Gods themselves.

**Chapter 12 is done. Woohoo. Anyways, Tyrian died, he never got his trial and never got Mercury to fight Hazel in his trial by combat. He never even got to shoot Watts with a crossbow while he was on the toilet. Oh wait, that's a different Tyrion... Oops. **


	13. Two Steps Forward, Turn and Repeat

XXXXX

Chapter 13: Two Steps Forwards, Turn and Repeat

XXXXX

Blake and Sun sat awkwardly in the sun room of Blake's family house. Kali Belladonna took a long and hard rip from her hookah; it was filled with the finest catnip. Blake grimaced. Sun asked for a hit, but was refused.

"So... Beacon fell? Where did it fall to? Hahahaha, Blake... Blakey, Blake. You father was worried? I dunno! I guess he was worried, he was crying!", Kali slurred.

"Uhh. No. I wasn't crying. I knew Blake was going to be fine. She had us- err... me as a role model. She was going to do just fine!", Ghira said. His wife had zoned out decades ago after cheap Catnip flooded the markets in Menagerie.

"You guys have nothing to worry about! I've seen your daughter in action and she has some great moves and a great set of accessories to go with them!", Sun noted.

Ghira looked at him strangely. "What do you mean by that?"

Blake just zoned out. She grabbed her mother's hookah and took a rip. She ignored Sun and her father behind her. They'd sort it out and one of them would probably live.

"Oooh, Blake! Lemme get you some fresh catnip! There you go! Gotta live while you're still young right?", Kali said as she noticed Blake's reaction.

"Errmm hmm. Yeah. Definitely", Blake noted. Her father and Sun were throwing things at each-other now. It was going to be an interesting day.

Ghira strangled Sun, he held the monkey man down on the ground and choked him until his face turned blue. He continued to attempt to kill the young man until the doorbell rang, its happy tropical theme song ringing throughout the house.

"Damn it! You're going to just have to wait here for your death. I forgot about something important. I need to take this.", Ghira said in anger. He'd forgotten about his meeting with the local mafia.

The larger Faunus walked to the door in rage. He hated that weird 'slave' Blake brought with her. She could probably buy another one, this one was defective. He reached their door and threw it open. A pair of fox Faunus stood outside in gaudy robes.

Blake looked at her mother who had looked towards the door.

"What's that?", Blake asked. Her head felt like it was made of yarn.

"Oh nothing, just the White Fang dudes again. They're always petitioning your father for some reason. I think they want more donations.", Kali said calmly.

"Wait! What? The White Fang!?", Blake shouted as she ran to the front door.

Blake ran up next to her father, she interrupted his conversation.

"What are you doing talking to these assholes!?", she shouted.

"Oh, Blake. This is Fennec and Corsac. They're from the Fang.", Ghira explained.

"Those freaks are here!?", Sun yelled from where he laid farther back in the house.

"Blake. The White Fang is a peaceful organization. Other branches may resort to violence, but it's all for a good cause.", Ghira said.

"No. No it is not! The White Fang attacked Beacon. They were behind the destruction of Vale!", Blake yelled. "Adam Taurus is a monster!"

"Adam Taurus was nowhere near Beacon when it fell. His brother Fjord was recalled to HQ for some reason, we don't really know why. It is Fjord after all, he's not very reliable.", Corsac noted.

"I think he's getting rusty.", Fennec added.

"Anyways, we were just here to ask if your father had any donations for the month. We're also looking for volunteers again if you'd like to come back, Miss Belladonna.", Corsac stated.

"I'd rather eat my own entrails.", Blake said. She really would.

"Haha, well. Goodbye, gentlemen. It's been a pleasure.", Ghira noted as he shut the door on the strange Faunus.

Corsac and Fennec left, they walked down the road in their gaudy robes. They were a strange duo of Faunus. Something felt off about them, but nobody knew why.

"So those guys are definitely up to something, right?", Sun noted, now right next to Blake and her father.

"You! I really don't like you...", Ghira noted as he saw Sun smiling like an imbecile.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him.", Blake noted.

Ghira shut the door, he walked past Sun and went up to his study. He needed some time alone. Maybe Blake finally fell in love? He didn't know and he really hoped it wasn't with the monkey man.

"Well, that went well.", Sun noted.

"I told you not to do anything stupid, Stupid!", Blake said as she dragged Sun back into the sun room. "If the White Fang is here then... Then you were right! We need to prepare for anything!"

XXXXX

Back at camp, the fire had died down. Team JNPRR awoke slowly. Jaune sat wide awake in revelation to what his _fate_ was. He smiled. He knew what was going to happen, at least in his mind.

"So, Qrow. Let's say we believe all this stuff about Light and Dark and evil and all that nonsense. Why isn't anyone else going after them? Why aren't we in a hurry to get to Haven?", he asked.

Qrow slowly got up, he propped himself up next to the log he 'slept' on.

"The headmaster at Haven saw what happened to Beacon. He's on his guard. The rest of the Academy Council knows this too. What we're fighting can't be fought with normal means. It needs Guerilla warfare. A small team, unsuspected, to hit them randomly.", Qrow stated.

"Okay, then why doesn't anyone else intervene? You know about this, who else does? Why doesn't anyone else take action?", Jaune asked.

"If you listened to Ozzy, he always said 'Do not cause a panic', that was almost his motto. Well if everyone knew everything, it would cause a panic. Panic attracts Grimm. We cannot do that.", Qrow explained.

"I didn't listen that much, Qrow. But honestly, it seems like you're placing all of your bets on a small team, oblivious to the obvious danger, who will just sort out all of your problems. Maybe even a few dying in the process. And those deaths providing some kind of character development. Let's not cheap out by playing up the classic tragedy. Why don't you just tell us the whole story?", Jaune said.

"I dunno the whole story. I'm telling you what Ozpin told me.", Qrow stated.

"Oh, that explains so much! Ozpin kept us all in the dark, he deceived us. He wanted us to do his dirty work, but when we started to question it, suddenly he isn't around. Great. Fantastic.", Jaune said. "When are we going to stop being used as a means to an end?"

"I couldn't really tell you that, kid. You're just going to have to use your own judgment. Keep what you know close to heart and wait for a better set of cards to be dealt.", Qrow relented.

"Oh so this is a game now? Know when to hold them, know when to fold them, and know when to walk away? I'd walk away now and take my chances with the life of a mascot, but for some reason the fate of the world depends on us. I guess I'm just going to go along with it for now. For now, Qrow.", Jaune concluded.

"Kid, you can just walk away whenever you feel like it. You're really not doing much.", Qrow argued.

"I could, but _she_ would stay. I can't let her face her _destiny_ alone. A _destiny_ I cannot live in.", Jaune said as he motioned to Pyrrha. "I guess I'm in this then. Let's go and do this"

Qrow just stared at him. He didn't know what to say. Jaune seemed to know what was going to happen next. And he didn't want anyone to succumb to their _fate_. It was strange. Sometimes things couldn't be changed. Qrow knew this and he just went along with it. He'd been dealt a crappy hand from the start, he'd learned from this, but it didn't mean you could defy fate itself. He'd tried and failed.

"Well, when your friends are awake, we should get moving. It's a long walk to Haven.", Qrow noted.

XXXXX

Blake leaned against a railing, her back to the forests of Menagerie. She stood outside of her father's office. It was night and Sun was nowhere to be found. He'd actually been offered a hit from Kali's hookah and the two of them were downstairs having a lovely conversation about 'Why they were here'.

"Uhh hey? Blake. What's going on up here?", Sun asked, he'd stumbled up the rope bridge to her.

"Nothing, Sun. Just wondering why I even came back. The White Fang are here, of all places. My father, he can forgive my actions, but I can't forgive his. He trusts the Fang, he still has meetings with them despite what they've done!". Blake exclaimed. "It's a different branch of the same freaks we met in Vale!".

"Uhh, yeah. About that... Your mother said the White Fang doesn't wear masks in Menagerie, but I totally saw one the other day. In the marketplace!", Sun noted.

"What!? Sun, did you really see this?", Blake said in shock.

"Yeah, I even got a picture!", Sun said.

Sun showed Blake the photo he'd taken the other day. There was a shady looking White Fang member skulking around in the bushes, seemingly watching Blake with interest. Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw something flash by. The object hit Sun's Scroll and knocked it out of his hands and down into the brush below the balcony they stood on.

"A freaking ninja!?", Sun exclaimed.

"No! A spy! Come on!", Blake yelled as she pulled Sun over the railing of the balcony and after their interloper.

"Sun? Hey, what ya doing?", Kali asked as she apexed the top of the rope bridge.

"The White Fang is evil, Blake totally called it. I'll bring her back safe and sound I promiiiiiisssse!", Sun called as he was dragged over the railing, leaving Kali alone.

"Heheheee. Goodbye Sun. Hello moon! It's a wonderful night for a tea party!", Kali sang to nobody in particular.

"Kali!? Is that you? Oh gods, you're high again. Go back downstairs!", Ghira said as he noticed the wobbly kitty outside his door. He'd had enough of this for one day.

XXXXX

Yang and her father sparred. They exchanged blows, Yang retaliating with a roundhouse kick, Taiyang blocking the hit and returning with his own. They fought each-other to a standstill, the two fighters of their team on equal grounds. Yang blocked one of her father's attacks and slammed him in the back with her new arm. Taiyang tumbled.

"Wow that thing hits hard!", Tai exclaimed.

"Meh, I wasn't even trying to hit you.", Yang noted apathetically.

A sound of a portal opening cut off Taiyang in mid sentence. "Taiyang...", a cold voice said.

"Oh hey! What's up, Raven? Long time no see!", Taiyang said.

"Mom!? What-", Yang exclaimed.

"Not now, daughter. Adults are talking.", Raven said.

"So what have you been up to lately? I mean, besides neglecting your daughter.", Taiyang said.

Taiyang Xiao Long received a slap to the face and was pulled by his ear towards his own home.

"Many things, Tai. We should talk. Yang, I'll talk to you later when I'm done with your father.", Raven said as she glanced back to the surprised blond-haired girl.

"I... What? What just happened?", Yang said in surprise. She just sat down and played with Zwei, her strange little dog. She didn't want to ruin the moment with her mother and father. This might be the only chance she had to reunite with her wayward mother.

Inside the quaint little house Taiyang had built, Raven sat at the table and Tai sat across from her.

"Why the sudden appearance? You've been gone for most of Yang's life!", Taiyang exclaimed.

"Oh you know why, Tai. It was a cold night and you decided to sleep with my brother.", Raven noted.

"I.. Okay, maybe I did. I was drunk. But you just ran off in the middle of the night!", Tai stated.

"It would've been one thing if my twin was a twin sister, but no, it was Qrow. And Qrow, as far as I'm aware, is a man. You have some strange urges, Taiyang.", Raven noted.

"So, why are you here? Why now?", Tai asked.

"Thing are in motion beyond my control. You _know_ what that is. You allowed a _Maiden_ to stay in your house without a thought. You endangered everyone, even little Ruby Rose. You should've said something. You know what I've been doing.", Raven stated.

"Okay, yeah, sure. I guess that cereal mascot got some Maiden powers, but I didn't know how much she got! She just seemed like a normal teenage girl, maybe a little awkward at times, but not like Amber or the Spring Maiden.", Tai noted.

"Seriously here, where did she go? Who was she traveling with and did it seem like they were being controlled?", Raven asked.

"I don't know! They left in the middle of the night. She was traveling with that blond-haired douche from Atlas, an orange-haired girl with a hammer and a moody boy of unknown ethnicity. Ruby went with them. I have no idea where they went!", Taiyang exclaimed.

"Could they have been seeking Ozpin's council?", Raven asked.

"Possibly? Maybe they went to the arcade instead and got abducted by strangers in a white van offering free dust samples. I don't know where they are!", Tai responded.

"Hmf. I have a feeling I know where they went. To the next lackey in Ozpin's purse.", Raven noted. "I'm done here, Tai. It was so nice to see you."

Raven left Taiyang in confusion at his own kitchen table. She went back outside to where her daughter Yang sat and played with the family's pet dog.

"Hey, Yang. I'm in a hurry. You can meet me _here_.", Raven said as she handed Yang a business card. "I'm out of cigarettes and I need to get some in a hurry. Sorry about the lack of communication."

Raven quickly opened a portal and left in a shower of black feathers. Yang just stared at her departure.

"Typical.", Yang cursed.

XXXXX

Blake and Sun pursued their interloper through the trees. The spy held onto Sun's Scroll containing all of the photos of them. The interloper suddenly jumped onto the rooftops of the surrounding mansions. Sun and Blake still pursued.

"Hey! Stop! Junior Detectives on duty!", Sun called as he flashed a small plastic badge.

The spy turned to Sun, now withing touch range and headbutted him, breaking off the mask that hid their face and knocking Sun away for now. The spy continued to run along the rooftops.

"Ilia.", Blake said in recognition.

"You shouldn't have come back here, Blake. Menagerie has changed.", Ilia, the spy, said.

"Blake! You know her? But she's not a- Aaagh!", Sun yelped as Ilia hit him with her whip. He was stabbed with a whip-like sword and stabbed through his shoulder. Sun fell.

"Brother Adam sends his regards.", Ilia noted before she dropped the Scroll, now cracked and leaped off the rooftops into the darkness below.

"Sun! Sun, you're going to be okay. It's just a flesh wound. Stay with me! Sun? Sun!?", Blake cried. Sun wasn't feeling too great right now. Sun wanted Blake to leave a message at the beep.

Beep!

**Chapter 13 is done. Yay. Lots of exposition crammed into a small package. Our little group that's always been and always will be until the end has had a dramatic pause. Don't worry, the dramatic dams will burst when Pyrrha dies in the future. Enjoy.**


	14. Welcome to No Safe Haven

XXXXX

Chapter 14: Welcome to No Safe Haven

XXXXX

Team JNPRR walked with Qrow. He was all over the place, perhaps drinking and attempting to lead a group wasn't his forte. Ruby just sighed at the sight of her uncle. He was the 'rebel' of her family and weirdly enough, somehow held a job as a teacher at Signal Academy. Everyone else wondered what his class would've been like, but Ruby noted that it was odd. Qrow didn't act like a drunken imbecile, instead, he spoke the truth about being a Huntsman and what dangers it brought. He was stoic and to the point; he was actually very well liked among the other professors.

The Team plus Qrow encountered yet another abandoned town. This time it was called 'Kuroyuri'. Ren immediately fell into turmoil.

"This place. This is the place my family abandoned. It was attacked by the one terrible Grimm. Destroyed. And they brought me along to Oniyuri. This is where I met Nora. This... We need to leave here, just keep walking. Don't look back.", Ren noted.

"H-hey. Any of these buildings look like a liquor store to you?", Qrow slurred.

"No, Uncle Qrow. We should keep moving. Ren said there's a terrible Grimm around. We don't want to be attacked.", Ruby noted.

Everyone agreed for the most part. Ren just seemed lost in a flashback to his childhood. He stood, and drew his weapons autonomously. He seemed to sense an attack.

"Ren? What's wrong? Everyone is with you. We're all here. Me, Jaune, Ruby, Nora and even Qrow...", Pyrrha noted. The Maiden within her tensed and her eyes began to glow.

"I... Uh... I think something bad is about to happen.", Pyrrha said hesitantly.

Team JNRR and Qrow looked at the Spartan. Something bad was about to happen. Pyrrha's Maiden senses picked up on it. An inhuman roar filled their ears as they drew their weapons and stood in defense.

XXXXX

A very unpleasant thing was happening. A slash of metal and bone, another slash of metal. It was chaos. Cinder Fall fought back in aggression, trying to fight off the onslaught of Grimm. She faced no less than 14 Beowolves. Cinder slashed outwards, slicing through most of the Grimm, she still faced 9 Beowolves. It was turning bad. More of a punishment from her 'Mastermind'. It was horrible. Cinder wanted to scream out as Grimm fangs closed around her throat. She only felt a feeling of failure as she realized she was about to die.

"Enough. That's enough for today. You've proved what you're worth, Cinder.", Salem announced, the Grimm threat releasing Cinder's throat from its grasp.

Cinder fell to her knees, breathing heavily at the burst of fresh air. She thought Salem was going to allow her to die. She thought that Salem was going to enjoy her last moments, but yet the Grimm Queen had other plans.

"You're getting strong again. Strong enough to take over where Tyrian failed. Let's do that, okay? You're going to find that silver-eyed bitch and you're going to bring her to me. Alive. Understand? Because if you bring me a _dead_ silver-eyed bitch, you're going to be so dead, nobody will even recognize your corpse. Understand?", Salem announced.

Cinder just nodded. She knew who she was looking for and she knew the little girl's weakness. Her friends.

XXXXX

Back in Patch, Yang prepared to leave. She'd gotten her mother's 'business card' and had her location. She grabbed the keys to 'Bumble Bee' and walked towards the yellow motorcycle.

"I didn't say you were ready, Yang. You're still sloppy and use your Semblance too much. You can't rely on that when you're out there fighting for your life...", Tai noted.

"Well, I think I"m ready. And I"m going now. Try and stop me.", Yang said.

"Well, I'm still sore from the last sparring match. Just... Take what I said and do what you think is the best. That's all I want.", Tai concluded.

Yang just nodded to her father, he did have some reasonable advice when he wasn't being weird.

"Dad. I will. I'm going to find my mom and then I'm going to find Ruby. They're both in Mistral somewhere. I'll kill two birds with one stone.", Yang stated.

"Well... Let's not kill them now. Let's just hit two birds with one stone, I know I did.", Tai said.

Yang just gave her father a sideways glance. This was probably a metaphor somehow. She shook her head and put on her helmet. She fired up the motorcycle and left Taiyang standing in the dust.

"At least I know Zwei is still with me, right? Zwei? Zwei?", Tai said as he looked for his dog. The strange little corgi was nowhere to be seen. "Dammit."

XXXXX

Weiss Schnee just sat in the cargo hold as the Team around her argued with each-other. She really didn't know how they managed to become Huntsmen. It was strange. The robed one would mock the other two women. The male version of Nora didn't understand sarcasm. The Green dressed woman would conjure flowers out of thin air and prance about with them and the woman in the cowboy hat hated everyone.

Weiss leaned back, her backside hitting a switch of some kind. Behind her, a door opened and sucked her out of it instantly. She wanted to scream, but couldn't. The action was too quick.

"Awww shit. We just lost the heiress!", Liana cursed.

"She'll be fine. We're not that high off the ground right now.", Tonar noted.

"Hey! Pilot Boy, are we close yet?", McDiarmid yelled.

"It's Augustus Boye! Not, Pilot Boy! Yeah, we're close. We'll be landing in Haven in a few minutes.", the pilot shouted back.

"Well, good. Hopefully she landed somewhere close to the Academy. Should make tracking her down easier.", Risha noted.

"One can only hope for the best.", Tonar agreed.

Team VRML headed off to Haven. They'd find Weiss Schnee on the ground when they could. She probably didn't land very far and probably wasn't in any danger.

Weiss Schnee looked upwards, she was surrounded by bandits. She'd landed awkwardly in a bandit camp. Of all the places in the world...

"Hmm... I think we just hit the jackpot.", A cold voice said.

Weiss was immediately bound in chains and dragged to a cage. Her weapons taken and her Dust supplies stolen. She pouted. "Great.".

XXXXX

In Kuroyuri, Team JNPRRQ stood at attention. A black shape moved towards them, a shape of a man on horseback with multiple weapons stuck into it. It was terrifying. Ren aimed both his guns towards the ominous creature on instinct.

"Not again... Not again!", Ren screamed. He'd seen the beast before. He'd lived through its attacks. This wasn't what he wanted at all. He actually just wanted to wake up back in his dorm at Beacon and realize this was all a dream. A very bad dream. It wasn't.

Pyrrha's Maiden powers flourished. They flooded her mind, the little voice in the back of her skull becoming a shouting and raging voice. "_Protect them!_". Pyrrha began to hover again, she felt the power in her hands flow and flung them outwards, a burst of power crackling as she did so. Flames burned off her eyes, she felt godlike again. She felt angry for some reason and breathed deeply, a small burst of flame emanating from her mouth as she did. "_Rage. Rage against the Grimm._"

The beast made itself present, a Grimm visage of a man and horse combined. The horse form trotted up to them, the man portion remaining limp. The man portion stood up suddenly, the horse portion going limp this time. The Grimm screamed, kicking everyone except the Spartan to the ground. It whirled out, arms longer than thought and slashed at them. Ren returned fire in rage. His attacks doing nothing but attracting the Grimm's attention to him.

"Oh! Oh wow! It's the Nuckalevee! A legendary Grimm! Finally a worthy opponent!", Jaune yelled as he unleashed _Conference Call_ against it. His attacks did nothing. He noticed this at the last possible moment.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha called, her knight-in-tarnished-armor was about to fall. He was reckless, and fired without aiming, most of his shots deflecting off the Grimm and back towards her teammates.

Ren used his Semblance. He was able to mask his friend's emotions to the Grimm. He aimed at Jaune and commanded him.

"Jaune! Get Qrow out of here. He's causing problems!", Ren shouted.

Jaune ran over to Qrow, who had been stumbling around like a drunken ape and pulled him towards a small wall.

"Come on, Numpty Dumpty. It's time to sit down and relax! Just stay here until all the real Huntsmen are done!", Jaune said.

"Wha? What? What do you mean?", Qrow slurred.

Jaune just whacked Qrow on the head and knocked him unconscious. He really didn't want to deal with a 45 year old drunkard right now. Qrow would be fine. He'd been drunk his entire life and this would just be another blackout.

As Jaune returned to his friends, he saw that Ren and Nora were pinned to a building by one of the hideously long Grimm arms. They struggled helplessly. Pyrrha fired off lightning bolts like some kind of Greek god, lancing blows ricocheting off the Grimm to almost no effect.

Ren landed a stab with StormFlower, stabbing the Grimm in the hand. The monster dropped the duo and turned to face Pyrrha, the Maiden still lancing lightning bolts like spears. As Nora and Ren landed, they tumbled under an old house, out of range from the Grimm. Ren stood at attention readied another attack. Nora stopped him.

"Ren! Stop! You're going to get yourself killed. After all we've been through, you can't do this!", She cried. "If you keep trying to fight this thing, you're going to die! I can't let our story end like this! Not like this, Ren! Please!"

Ren stared at his best friend. He saw her again as a scared child, hiding under a similar house as the Grimm descended on her. He saw the past and present collide. He made a decision.

"I know, Nora. I...", Ren said as he pulled the small ornate dagger out. "I have to avenge them."

Ren charged out from under the house, he threw his Father's dagger at the Grimm in a rage, the small blade embedding itself into the chest of the Grimm. He looked around in shock. He had dealt the killing blow.

Jaune fired on the Grimm, he was using a new gun this time, a little present from some investors called the _Double-Penetrating Unkempt Harold_. It was a pistol and fired 3 shots that split into 5 and 7 shots. All the rounds were explosive and dealt and absolute unit of damage. The shots that didn't hit the Grimm hit buildings and brought them down. Using the explosive nature of the gun, he'd managed to break off almost all of the bony armor that protected the Grimm.

Pyrrha concentrated her Semblance on the weapons stuck into the creature and cut its arms off with them. She channeled her Maiden powers and threw more lightning spears at it, this time impaling it multiple times. The Grimm screamed in response, flailing around without a way to attack back. Ruby launched forwards with her own Semblance and beheaded the horse portion of the Nuckalevee, crippling the Grimm.

Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby reared back for the final push of the fight, aiming and concentrating all of their firepower on it when a small dagger embedded itself into the chest of the Grimm. It was embedded down to its handle. The Grimm twitched a few times letting out a few gurgles in agony before it fell limp and began to turn to smoke. The three turned around to see Ren.

"I... I did it. For my mother. For my Father. For everyone in Oniyuri. And... For me. It's gone. It's finally gone...", Ren sighed. He collapsed onto his knees in revelation. It was over. He'd avenged his fallen family. They could all rest in peace.

Nora stared at Ren. She ran over to him and grabbed him, shook him violently.

"If you ever do that again, Ren... I swear I'll kill you myself! We're a team, Ren. We can do this together. Because next time we're facing death, we're facing it together. Just the two of us, even if it means that we walk through the halls of Valhalla together, we do this as one.", Nora said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into an embrace. Ren sobbed into her shoulder.

Farther back, Jaune posed like a hero, spinning his new pistol. Pyrrha floated down to the ground as the Maiden powers faded, she turned to Jaune and also embraced him.

"We did it! We did it together, Jaune!", Pyrrha beamed.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Pyr. You've got that wacky Maiden stuff, I'm just a gunslinger.", Jaune noted.

"We did it as a team, guys. Team JNPRR.", Ruby said.

The sounds of an airship overhead interrupted the team of teenage Huntsmen friends as they shared a small victory celebration. Qrow had woken up again and stumbled over to them in a hungover stupor. He just stared at the landing wing-boat, part Mistral's oddly shaped air fleet.

The dirty and tired group boarded the airship, a brown cloaked Mistrali helping them aboard. He introduced himself as Captain Reynolds, pilot of the ship named _Tranquility_.

"How did you get here so fast?", Nora asked.

"Well, we were on patrol and saw the smoke and thought something was up. Nobody comes out here, ya know?", Reynolds stated.

"Hey, Uncle Qrow, we made it! We're going to Haven!", Ruby beamed. Qrow just grimaced, Ruby's voice shattered his hungover eardrums.

"I get it, kid. We're on our way to _destiny_. No need to announce it to everyone.", Qrow stated.

Ruby stayed quiet, the view of the city distracted her. Ren and Nora sat on the edge of the cargo hold, legs dangling off freely into the air. The all watched as Haven came into view, the large and mountainous city eclipsing their view. It was beautiful. The Academy stood proudly on the top of the largest mountain, the rest of the city spiraling down in parapets. A broad farming area and housing development taking up the rest of the space at the bottom the the hillside. Tomorrow was another day.

XXXXX

Inside a luxurious office, two men spoke. One had a mustache, neatly groomed and spoke to an older man with unkempt hair. It didn't seem like things were going well. The older unkempt man sat behind a large mahogany desk. He seemed perturbed.

"Why, thank you Professor. Salem always said you were... Quite hospitable.", The mustachioed man noted.

"Well, of course! I always know who to trust when the wool has been pulled over our eyes.", The unkempt man said.

"Let's hope that you do. For you own sake.", The mustachioed man concluded.

This wasn't going to end well, the unkempt man thought. This wasn't going to be a very happy ending for anyone involved.

XXXXX

Blake sat on her couch at home. Sun had recovered, he wore a small bandage on his wound The monkey man played up the whole 'grievous wound' too much and Blake's family stopped paying attention to him after he'd demanded chocolate pudding at 4am in the morning, citing that he couldn't go and get it himself.

"Blake?", Sun asked.

"This is why I left them. They're all a bunch of sneaky rats and other garbage. There's no honor in what they're doing!", Blake cursed.

"I think the one that stabbed me was a chameleon, actually.", Sun noted.

"You know what I mean! Do you think I like this solo life? I hate it. Every day I think about my _team_. I wonder if they're still alive or if they blame me for leaving so suddenly. I had nowhere else to go, I thought that coming here would be different, but it's all the same shit with a different color!", Blake ranted.

"B-Blake...", Sun said quietly.

"You saw Ilia last night, she's not even the worst of them all! You haven't met Adam Taurus yet, he's a beast! My Team is probably safer without me. I and only I can handle the White Fang, they don't need the extra stress from my presence!", Blake cried.

"Now, Blake. I know you're trying to be the selfless and ultimately self-sacrificing type, but it's not going to work. I'm going to protect you. I played up 'The Wacky Monkey Man' because messing with your dad is fun. But, seriously. I'm going to protect you. You can't do this by yourself!", Sun exclaimed. "You can make your own choices, Blake. But when your friends, like me, want to help, you need to stop trying to push us out. It hurts more than any wound to have your best friend shut you out of their lives when something is definitely bothering them. It makes everyone think it might be their fault for your pain."

"Sun... I...", Blake stuttered.

Blake's father interrupted them, he'd been listening to their conversation for a little bit. Maybe Sun Wukong wasn't as stupid as he acted. He had some very interesting points.

"Blake... Sun. You were right to be suspicious of the White Fang.", Ghira noted.

"What? What do you mean?", Blake and Sun asked in unison.

"It would seem that Adam Taurus, without his brother, is planning to overthrow the leader of the White Fang and attack Haven Academy. It's going to be the Fall of Beacon all over again. I don't know the reasons, I just know that cannot be allowed to happen.", Ghira stated.

"What? We can't let that happen! It would be chaos!", Sun exclaimed. "We need to destroy them once and for all!".

"We can't do that either, stupid. _We_ are going to overthrow the White Fang and take leadership back for ourselves.", Blake concluded.

Ghira agreed with his daughter and reluctantly agreed with Sun Wukong. They were both right about the whole situation. And they were destined to become the future leaders of the White Fang if everything went the way he thought it would. A new beginning, one of peace and not of violence.

**Chapter 14 is done. No, Qrow is not gay, he just hits on anything with a pulse. He just does it like LaBeouf would want. Taiyang is the same, he's channeling his inner Captain Jack Harkness. I don't really know how to write Kali being a doting and loving mother, so I'm basing Blake's parents off of Helga Pataki's parents from 'Hey Arnold!' Nickelodeon cartoons. If you're too young to understand that reference, look it up. Hope you're ready for the 'Big Death' at the end of this next arc, I know I am. Heheheh.**


	15. Guess Who Goes

**I know you all secretly hate this fanfic, I do too. **

XXXXX

Chapter 15: Guess Who Dies At The End of Vol. 5

XXXXX

Team JNPRR followed Qrow through ancient stone tunnels. The airship didn't drop them directly at the Academy, it had dropped them off outside the city and flown back off. Captain Reynolds apparently had to deal with some 'reavers', whatever that was. Jaune reflected on the strange little team of 'Mistrali Patrolmen', because it really didn't seem like David 'Wash' Washington, Chloe Price, and a man inexplicably named 'Jane' were actually in the military. It was more likely they'd stolen an airship and decided to pose as officials. Whatever, it didn't really matter, they dropped them off where they needed to be; Captain Reynolds and his crew were heroes of another story.

Qrow had reached a set of wooden double doors farther down the passage. He motioned to the team to come over.

"And now, I present to you all... The City of Mistral!", Qrow announced as he threw the doors open.

The City in front of the sprawled out below them. They stood upon a small terrace. The City's many buildings occupied the cliffs in the mountains that surrounded the area. The lower levels looked less inviting than the upper ones. Humans and Faunus walked the marketplace below them, buying all sorts of merchandise. Everyone looked around at the sight of the majestic 'Eastern' style city.

"You should probably stay away from the lower levels, despite its beauty, Mistral City hides something uglier; The Black Market. Merchants here will sell you pretty much anything, whether they should or not.", Qrow stated.

"Heheheh, Black Market, sounds like a fun place! I could probably get some prototypes of my competitors' weapons down there.", Jaune mused.

"Nope. Bad idea, Jaune. You're the heir to the largest weapons manufacturer in Atlas. You might as well just wear a bright red sign that says 'I Hate Faunus' on it and run around Menagerie.", Pyrrha mocked. Some of Jaune's Aura was rubbing off on her. "You probably wouldn't get beaten up as badly."

"Hey, kids. We're not going to go around trying to cause trouble. Ozpin wouldn't want that. We're going up.", Qrow said as he pointed out the Academy on the highest level of the mountain. "Hope you put on your walking shoes, the elevator broke down months ago."

Halfway into Team JNPRR's walk into Haven, Jaune had enough of this. He'd walked up almost 500 steps and was more tired than ever. He loaded some Gravity Dust cartridges into _Conference Call._

"Jaune, what are you doing?", Pyrrha asked as she noticed the blond-haired gunslinger apparently deciding to attack the ground itself.

"I'm taking the easy way up, screw this walking nonsense!", Jaune exclaimed as he aimed and fired his shotgun into the ground, the Gravity Dust propelling him into the sky and onto the landing at the top of the staircase.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha screamed, she launched her shield towards the ground at his feet before pulling herself up with her Semblance. She was worried about his 'landing strategy'. She landed next to him as he looked down on their Teammates far below.

"Come on up, guys! The Academy awaits!", Jaune called.

"Fine, take the shortcut. Didn't you know that the Stairway to Haven is an honorable journey?", Qrow noted from just behind Pyrrha and Jaune. Both of them turned around in surprise, how did he get up here so fast?

"Qrow!? How'd you get up here so fast?", Pyrrha asked.

"Ehhh, A little birdie helped me.", He responded nonchalantly.

A sudden burst of rose-petals and lightning signified the arrival of the other members of Team JNPRR. Ren had just been pulled along by Nora.

"Well, guys. It's been a long journey filled with ruins, strange airships and adventure, but we've finally made it!", Ruby beamed. She turned and looked around at the Academy. There was absolutely nobody around. A leaf blew in the wind, Nora watched as it soared.

"Helloooo!?", Nora called. Nobody responded.

"Well ain't that a bitch. Nobody's home.", Jaune noted.

"Maybe school isn't in session right now?", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah, that's it. Take a look at this.", Qrow said as he pointed to a small sign just in front of them.

"Closed For Plumbing Repairs", the sign read. Apparently the war with the Constructor's Union was affecting plumbers from Mistral as well.

The team walked around the sign and headed for the main hall. Maybe Headmaster Lionheart was still here? They passed another sign in front of the dorms which read, "Septic Overflow. Keep Out!". Nope nobody in the dorms. They walked slowly into the Great Hall, a large gaudy statue greeted them.

"Is that supposed to be a Maiden?", Jaune asked.

"Geez, I hope not. She doesn't have any clothes.", Pyrrha noted.

They continued up a set of stairs and down another long hallway. A door at the end was slightly ajar.

"Okay, this doesn't seem right. Be on your guard.", Qrow said. Team JNPRR pulled their weapons. Jaune held out _Unkempt Harold _and _Conference Call_, Pyrrha wielded her new sword and shield, Nora stood with her hammer, Ren pulled StormFlower and Ruby held out her scythe. Qrow rushed up to the door and kicked it open like an action hero.

An unkempt man on the other side raised his arms in surprise. "Aauugh!". He then fell unconscious in fear and peed himself. Qrow stepped back a bit and looked at the unkempt man with wet pants.

"Eugh. Sorry, Leon.", Qrow said.

A few moments later, Qrow and Team JNPRR was seated around a pleasant little table enjoying some bitter Mistrali Tea. Leonardo Lionheart had changed his pants and now glared at Qrow.

"Qrow! You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?", Lionheart yelled.

"Me? Why weren't you waiting for us at the gates? You know why I'm here!", Qrow responded.

Lionheart looked at his watch. He'd forgotten to reset it for daylight-savings time.

"Oh, well... I guess I just let time slip away.", Lionheart responded.

"Really?", Qrow asked.

Lionheart just looked nervous, he was hoping nobody would notice that he didn't change his undergarments and that the wetness wasn't seeping through his new pants.

"So... Why isn't anyone here?", Nora asked.

"Well, you saw the sign, right? The damned Plumber's Union is off fighting construction workers for some reason. Those insufferable plumbers at the Maria Sisters Plumbing Company ran off in the middle of the job at let the septic tanks overflow!", Lionheart explained. "I'm never trusting 'Super' Maria and her sister Linguine again! I swear!"

"So, the toilets overflowed and you sent everybody home?", Nora extrapolated.

"Yes! Nobody wants to attend class when they're knee-deep in excrement!", Lionheart exclaimed. He wasn't wrong.

"Anyways, you must be the students Qrow mentioned. Pleasure to meet you.", he said. "So who have we got here? I recognize one of you, anyways."

"I'm Jaune Arc, heir to Hyperion Weapons and Technology of Atlas. Makers of the most accurate weapons on the planet!"

"Nora Valkyrie! And this is Ren. Say hi, Ren!"

"I am Lie Ren, son of Li Ren and slayer of the Nuckalevee."

"Um. I'm Ruby Rose. Did you know Qrow is my uncle?"

"...And I'm Pyrrha. Hello again, Professor."

"Pyrrha Nikos, the most famous in all of Mistral. Alive and well. I had a feeling the reporters from Vale were wrong about your defeat, I mean they had a whole segment on Grimm Frogs! I'd trust Fox Faunus News before I'd trust them!", Lionheart exclaimed.

"Oh, well yes. I really am the best.", Pyrrha said.

"Wait... wait... So nobody except you is here? Who's guarding the relic, then?", Qrow asked.

"Qrow!", Lionheart exclaimed, Qrow was talking too much again.

"Leon, the kids already know. I filled them in.", Qrow stated.

"That's reckless, even for you. What were you thinking?", Lionheart chided.

"What were _you_ thinking leaving the Relic unguarded and not checking in with the Council for ages?", Qrow asked

"There was nothing to check in about! Before the Fall of Beacon everything was fine, but after? Mistral has had a lot to deal with, first it was the Vytal Festival. Everyone saw that girl revealed as... that _thing!_ Then the Grimm came, and all the negativity in a City this size causes chaos! Then it was the attack on the gourmet pancake factory and the ban on gun sales! Then Atlas placed the embargo on Dust. Now Atlas is closing borders!", Lionheart ranted. "We still don't even know _where_ the Spring Maiden is!"

"All the more reason to have as many Huntsmen and Huntresses here.", Qrow added

"Okay... Things are bad. But, we can still fix this. Why is the Spring Maiden so important?", Pyrrha asked.

"I thought you told them, Qrow!", Lionheart cursed.

"Ehh, sorta.", Qrow responded.

"The four maidens hold powers of magic, ones that haven't been seen before. Only _they_ are capable of opening the Vaults!", Lionheart stated.

"What? Do they require a Vault key? Do the Maidens just charge up that Vault key and open it with their magic powers?", Jaune asked.

"No! There's no key! Each Vault can only be opened by a specific Maiden!", Lionheart said

"Well, maybe I can open it? I'm a Maiden now... Sorta.", Pyrrha noted.

"You- You're a Maiden?", Lionheart exclaimed

Pyrrha's eyes began to glow again.

"Yes, I am. I received the Fall Maiden's powers.", Pyrrha noted.

"You're not going to be able to do anything. The Vaults are coded for each Maiden. Winter for the Relic of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice and Spring for Knowledge. We need the Knowledge Relic.", Qrow explained.

"Well, we still don't know where Spring went. She panicked and ran away almost a decade ago. Our searches have proved useless!", Lionheart shouted.

"Well, it's a good thing I know where she is. Or at least, close to where she is.", Qrow stated.

Qrow pulled out his Scroll and projected a large map into the room holographically.

"She's right around here. Right in the middle of Bandit territory.", Qrow noted.

Lionheart quickly copied the map and the coordinates.

"Well then, Qrow. It would seem we'll actually be able to do this. We should be able to mount a recovery in a few weeks.", Lionheart noted.

"A few _weeks_? That's too long to wait!", Qrow said.

"Sorry, old friend, but the Council works slowly. You know how politics are. Why don't you stay in the city, keep in touch. I'll call you if anything changes.", Lionheart concluded.

"Errrgh. Fine. But I expect a call as soon as you find out. If this takes too much longer, we'll go and find her ourselves!", Qrow said.

Qrow turned and left, he motioned for Team JNPRR to follow. He wasn't happy.

"It was nice to see you again, Professor.", Pyrrha noted.

Lionheart just nodded before he shut the door behind them.

A while after Team JNPRR had left, a mustachioed man exited from a secret tunnel adjacent to where the kids and Qrow had been sitting.

"Are you ready?", he asked.

"Yes, Watts. I think I have everything.", Lionheart said coldly.

"Well, then. Let's begin.", Watts noted. "Did you pee your pants? You smell odd."

Watts and Lionheart both entered the secret passage, the bookcase sliding back into place soundlessly. The two men walked down the hallway to a large circular room. In the center of the room was another one of Salem's Grimm Spooky-Phones.

"Ladies first.", Watts mocked as he pushed Lionheart in front of the Grimm.

"Hello? Hello? Your grace?", Lionheart stuttered. An image lit up on the Grimm.

"Oh... Hey, Leon. You try this Oobleck Eats thing yet? It's great! Anyways, do you have anything to report?", Salem asked, mouth full of pizza.

"Oh... Uh... Yes, Oobleck Eats is fantastic... Anyways...", Lionheart stuttered

"Oh this creature is great, can you see us as clearly as we can see you?", Watts said as he tapped the Grimm, a random menu popped up on the Grimm. It added some funny filters to Salem's image, the menu disappeared and left them talking to Salem with puppy dog ears applied to her image.

"Shut up, Watts! Adults are talking!", Salem cursed.

"I've found the Spring Maiden. I know where she is... Also... The Fall Maiden is here too.", Lionheart said hesitantly, he was a little disturbed by the overly happy image of Salem with puppy dog ears.

"Oh really? Cinder made it all the way to Mistral already?", Salem noted.

"Err... No. It's the other one. Pyrrha Nikos.", Lionheart said. He felt bad for selling out Pyrrha.

"Oh _really_!? That's even better! Seriously, though, you've gotta try this Oobleck Eats thing. I've got unlimited breadsticks.", Salem sang. "Was the little silver-eyed girl with her?"

"Err yes... And yes, your grace. Ruby Rose was present with the group that arrived with Pyrrha.", Lionheart said. He didn't want to do this.

"Even better. You deserve an award for your bravery. Anyways, Cinder should meet up with you two eventually. Give her a warm welcome when she does. When you finally find the Spring Maiden, contact Hazel. The White Fang should be able to help with the rest of this 'group' you mentioned.", Salem said, now eating garlic breadsticks.

"Understood.", Watts stated.

"Not you, Watts! You need to find me a new pet Faunus! Tyrian took a dirt nap and I need another pet!", Salem yelled.

"U-Understood, your grace.", Watts said.

"Great. Well, let me know when you're done. And remember: Do Not Fail Me. Also remember: Check out Oobleck Eats, it's awesome.", Salem concluded.

The image of Salem faded and the Spooky-Phone Grimm displayed a default menu with several interesting apps installed on it. Watts really wanted to see what the 'Flappy Grimm' game was about but he refrained from doing so. He also gave Lionheart a sideways glance as he noticed the 'Ember' dating app as well.

XXXXX

Inside the White Fang HQ, Hazel finally opened his luggage, spilling Emerald and Mercury out onto the floor. Emerald just tumbled out lifelessly like a corpse. Mercury looked for his legs and attached them before noticing Emerald's status.

"Emerald! No!", He cried. "She suffocated to death!"

Hazel just kicked Emerald in the side, she woke up immediately and stood up in a stupor.

"Ow hey! Oh... Well, this is new.", Emerald noted.

The trio was in a vast throne room, Sienna Khan sat upon an intimidating throne made of hundreds upon thousands of guns that had been melted into an awkward seat. She just stared at them.

"What brings you to the White Fang, human?", She asked.

"Well, I'm here to make sure _he_ doesn't make an ass out of himself.", Hazel said as he motioned to Adam Taurus.

"Silence, human! You don't know where you are right now!", Adam raged.

"Well, let me hear him out. Then you can kill him if you want.", Sienna stated.

"Look, you don't like me. I don't like you. The list goes on. I'm here to prove that Adam can't be trusted. You need to trust us instead; me and my master. We need your help taking down Haven Academy.", Hazel stated.

"After Adam's actions in Vale, he's managed to do nothing but paint a big red target across our backs! Adam is a psychopath and stops at nothing. He is not a true member of the White Fang! We already know this.", Sienna ranted. "Why do you think we should attack Haven? We'll be starting a war!"

"No, you're the pathetic figurehead who won't do anything for her people! I deserve the right to lead the White Fang! They listen to me! Not you!", Adam raged, he was getting closer to Sienna Khan.

"What are you doing?", Hazel asked the man.

"You turned the Faunus into a bunch of domesticated animals! We're better than the humans. We _can_ win a war against them. And I am going to lead them!", Adam shouted.

"Take them away. I've heard enough of this.", Sienna said with a hand wave. Her guards didn't move.

"See, Sienna? People trust me. They'd follow me into the depths of hell. I'm the leader! And you're nothing!", Adam shouted as he thrust his sword into Sienna's chest. He impaled his leader and turned to announce his leadership. Instead, he turned to see several squads of guards bearing down on him. "What?"

"Yeah, so... Salem knew you were a loose cannon, which is why I brought these two lackeys. One can kill you with his toes, the other can make you see whatever you want to see...", Hazel said. Emerald concentrated hard on her illusions.

"Sorry, Adam. You just proved why you can't be trusted anymore.", Sienna said from behind the throne.

"No! No! This isn't real!", Adam raged as he was buried underneath several dozen guards.

"Okay then. You've proven your point about Adam and Fjord. Let's talk about business.", Sienna stated.

"What happens to him?", Hazel asked.

"Oh he'll be spending a very long time in our dungeon. It's supposedly endless and if he ever makes it out, he'll have a new outlook on life. Particularly why he's not being executed for treason.", Sienna noted. Adam Taurus was dragged away in chains to his fate worse than death.

"Well, at least nobody died today...", Hazel said.

XXXXX

Back in the fun tropical land of Faunus that totally isn't a metaphor for death, Sun and Blake watched the news. "Adam Taurus Exiled", the headline stated. Adam Taurus had tried to overthrow the current leader of the White Fang and failed miserably. He was thrown into the Under-Darkness, a maze-like tunnel system with no known exit. Has was gone for the time being. Blake knew he wasn't gone for good, he'd somehow find the secret exit or magic item and escape again.

"And in other news, Corsac and Fennec Albain have been arrested for following the 'cult leader' Adam Taurus. Police were led to their location by Blake Belladonna and Ilia Amitola. Miss Amitola and Miss Belladonna provided enough evidence to convict the two brothers and exonerate themselves of any wrong-doing.", Lisa Lavender reported.

"Hey, that's you and chameleon girl! I'm so glad you two made up with each-other, even if she did stab me a little!", Sun noted.

Blake just stared at him. "It wasn't that easy, Sun. Ilia had a tough decision to make, I'm just glad she chose to help instead of hurt. My house and family could've been destroyed if she just turned a blind eye!", Blake stated.

The front door opened and shut, Blake and Sun turning to see who had entered. It was Ilia, she was tired and for some reason, covered in some kind of goo.

"Hey! How did recruiting go?", Sun asked. Ilia had been sent out to recruit defenders for Haven Academy. Despite Adam Taurus being incarcerated, the remaining White Fang Extremists still planned an attack.

"Well, it went better than yesterday. I got forty signatures today!", Ilia said.

"What's that all over you?", Sun asked, pointing out the goo.

"Oh, I tried to recruit some Llama Faunus, they spat on me. Repeatedly.", Ilia noted.

"Oh.", Sun said.

"Well, I'm glad you're back, Ilia. That means we have over 300 signatures and willing Faunus to help us. I guess Adam wasn't as well liked as he thought.", Blake said.

"Yeah. I agree. I guess I was just stuck living in the past. I couldn't really see how much of a controlling dickhead he was. Those Albain guys were even worse. They always told me horrible things would happen if I tried to leave.", Ilia said.

"They told you about the Taurus family's _interesting_ way of torture, didn't they? Adam doesn't have any more siblings other than his bumbling brother.", Blake said.

"Yep. 500 Taurus men and me in a very unpleasant situation.", Ilia hinted as she turned a few different colors ending on pale green.

"Well, now that he's gone, we can live a little easier.", Blake said.

"Yeah. We can. Finally.", Ilia noted.

"Hey, I dunno about you guys, but I think we should celebrate. Maybe a little beach time before we head off to Haven!", Sun said.

"Yeah, okay. I can do that.", Blake noted.

"Count me in too.", Ilia said.

The three Faunus headed out of Blake's family house. It was a beautiful day in Menagerie and everything was going great. Adam was incarcerated, the Albain brothers locked in chains in the local jail. Ilia had returned to the Belladonna's good graces. And Sun hadn't gotten killed by Blake's father. It was a great day. Tomorrow they would assemble the team of Faunus and head to Haven. Ghira knew an odd airship captain who would do anything for a little Lien.

"Hey, Ghira. Nice of you to call... What are we transporting today?", the captain asked.

"Livestock, 300 units.", Ghira said.

"_Livestock_ livestock or... Oh, got it. It's gonna be double this time.", the captain stated.

"Captain Reynolds, you will receive triple if you do this for me. We need to be discrete.", Ghira said.

"Oh, for that price, they won't even notice us.", Reynolds responded.

And it was settled. _Tranquility_ would be landing in Menagerie and Blake and her team of Faunus would be flying to Haven. They would be leaves on the wind, watch how they soared.

**Chapter 15 is done. Hurray. Blake and Sun's excellent adventure has come to a close. Adam Taurus made an ass of himself. The Albain brothers were betrayed by their own. People are more willing to trust the Belladonna family. Lionheart is like the weird kid that gets peer-pressured into jumping his bike over the creek. Obligatory Firefly and Game of Thrones references because this is about to get heavy. **


	16. Authors Notes and Review Responses

**Author's Notes Intermission**

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted a chapter, so I've got some explanations. I'm a full-time mechanic and work has been really busy. I also bought a new gaming computer and have been exploring the wonderful world of Steam. If you can't tell already, I like Borderlands. I'm currently replaying the Original and the Handsome Collection. I'm also a fan of Firefly, Gen:LOCK, RvB, Life is Strange, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Also Achievement Hunter, they're great. Enjoy their cameo.

This story already has a bunch of chapters already written just not uploaded, the rating might have to change given the 'darker and edgier' tone the series itself has taken, I don't know yet. I'm still editing those chapters.

Responses to reviews in descending order:

23\. Great, there will be more.

22\. Yeah, I don't like it either. I thought it was funny. I can't really write doting mothers.

21\. Oh my sweet summer child, whatever made you think that?

20\. Jaune is supposed to be an asshole hero. He's Handsome Jaune. Go listen to Handsome Jack quotes.

19\. See the 22nd response.

18\. Yes.

The next 3 reviews are from the same guy. Thank you for reading.

15\. Qrow's not gay. He's omnisexual. An anime version of Captain Jack Harkness.

14\. Thank you sir.

11\. Next 2 reviews are from a fan. Thank you for reading.

10\. Nah, too much of copycat. His Semblance makes a lot more sense.

9\. Oh geez, you went there too.

Next 4 reviews are from my number one fan, thank you for reading again.

4\. I'll try, the Clappers were a throwaway joke.

3\. You'll see darker sides of everyone eventually.

2\. Great. Glad to see everyone from all over is enjoying it.

1\. Foreshadowing. Haha.


	17. Lighting the Perfect Storm

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Chapter 16: Lighting the Perfect Storm

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Qrow sat at a bar. He'd run out of ideas. He had spent some time looking for his other contacts for a while before realizing that all of them had disappeared in action, taking jobs for something called 'Oobleck Eats'. He didn't know what that was, and he didn't care right now. The kids were safe in the room he'd rented and now it was time for the dusty old crow to drown his sorrows again. He'd already had four glasses of Mistrali bourbon.

The door behind Qrow opened, a young boy in orange overalls walked towards him slowly. Qrow noticed the look on the bartender's face and turned around.

"H-hey, you're a little young to be in here, kid. The play palace is a few blocks down the road.", Qrow slurred.

The young boy just seemed to stare into Qrow's soul.

"Pardon, me, Qrow. I'd like my cane back now.", Ozpin said.

"Oh...Well, it's good to see you Ozzy!", Qrow sang.

Qrow tossed the mechanical cane to the young boy. The boy caught the cane as it extended and swung it a few times, testing its weight before clipping it to his belt.

"And you too, Qrow.", Ozpin said. "This is...er was... Oscar Pine. I know, ironic name. We have a lot of things to discuss..."

XXXXX

In a shady gas station named the 'Happy Pig', Yang filled the fuel tank of her motorcycle. It was unusually hot today. Tired and sweaty, she walked into the store and sat down at the bar. Mistral was weird, they had bars in gas stations as if mixing alcohol and driving was a good idea, whatever. The bartender eyed her as she sat down.

"You look a little young to be day drinking...", The bartenders uttered.

"Just want some water, that's all.", Yang noted.

"Oh, okay... Give me a sec.", The bartender responded.

The bartender walked away for a moment, apparently he didn't have any water behind the counter and headed for the stockroom. An incredibly creepy guy with a gas mask began to hit on Yang.

"You've got the shiniest meat bicycle!", The creeper said.

Yang rolled her eyes, more wonderful Mistrali natives, she assumed.

"I think you've got a pretty mouth!", the creep said as he reached for Yang's head.

"Not as pretty as yours...", Yang responded, eyes as red as a dying star. She punched the creepy dude in the face with her mechanical arm, the impact sending the weirdo flying out the front door and into traffic where he was promptly hit by a semi-truck.

The bartender returned, and placed a water bottle on the bar in front of Yang, he looked around a bit.

"Where did Krieg go?", he asked.

"The guy that was over there? He had a 'dental appointment'.", Yang said.

"Well, whatever. I'll just put the water on his tab, he never pays anyways and you should be careful out there. There are people worse than Krieg walking around.", The bartender said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm looking for one.", Yang said.

"Uhhh... That's probably a bad idea.", the barman said.

"I know. But we're related, so it can't be that bad, right?", Yang said.

The bartender just stared at her. Yang guzzled down the water and headed back outside. Her motorcycle sat quaintly next to the dirty gas pumps. A semi-truck driver behind her was trying to extricate Krieg from the truck's front grille.

Yang just sighed, this was turning into an adventure already.

XXXXX

Just outside of Haven academy, in Mistral City, Team JNPRR shared a nice little room. Qrow had run off to gods knew where and was probably unconscious in a whiskey scented hole somewhere. Ruby had given up on her Uncle, he was insufferable sometimes. The little silver-eyed girl was upstairs reading comic books and enjoying some of Ren's homemade cookies. Ren had actually cooked dinner for everyone, showing off his inner gourmet chef. Nora was passed out in the chair. Pyrrha played with her Semblance, juggling her weapons in the air nonchalantly as Jaune tinkered with his guns. It was a pleasant night.

The front door suddenly burst open, Qrow stumbling in with a boy slung over his shoulder. Qrow was very intoxicated. The boy just stared at all of them awkwardly.

"I found him! Hahaha! I found the bugger!", Qrow slurred.

"Found who? Did you just abduct some kid?", Pyrrha asked, standing up in shock.

Qrow tossed the boy down on the ground. He landed roughly before composing himself. Qrow jumped onto the couch that Pyrrha occupied previously.

"Tell them! Tell them who you are!", Qrow slurred.

"Ah, well... Right. I'm sure this is going to be a bit of a surprise to you all...", the boy said.

"More than a surprise of Qrow dragging some random kid into our home?", Jaune noted.

"Err... Yes. My name was Oscar Pine You may know me better as Professor Ozpin.", Oscar said.

Team JNPRR looked at Oscar, he was a fairly normal looking farmer's hand. He was dressed in a dirty green shirt and wore orange overalls. He had tan skin and an unkempt black hairstyle. His golden eyes shone out.

"So... Wait... Did he age in reverse?", Nora asked, realizing what was going on.

"Nah, this is classic reincarnation or something.", Jaune noted.

"This is weird, guys.", Ruby said, now present after hearing the door being slammed open.

"As I'd assume it would be.", Oscar said. "I assume Qrow explained how the Maidens work, their souls becoming bound to their hosts. This is more of the same. My soul, when I die becomes fused to another like-minded individual. The more dominant soul assumes control.", Ozcar Pin said.

"So... Then the soul of that boy is still in there somewhere?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yes. He's definitely still present, although he cannot sense too much. I've spent thousands of years trapped in this process.", Ozcar said.

"So what exactly are you, really?", Nora asked.

"The countless lives of the men who have tried to bring order to the chaos of the world. Every incarnation, my soul merges with another but my memories remain. This is the curse the gods have wrought upon me because I failed to stop Salem in the past. We must stop her now.", Ozcar said.

"This is really confusing.", Pyrrha said.

"As it would be, as it would seem that at least one of you has managed to circumvent their _fate_.", Ozcar noted somewhat ominously. "_She's not supposed to be here, she's a Martyr..._", he thought as he stared at the red-haired Spartan.

"How... How do we stop Salem?", Ruby asked.

"By ensuring the safety of the Relic of Knowledge.", Ozcar stated.

"Riiight... So that means we need to find the Spring Maiden...", Jaune noted.

"Exactly. It will be a perilous task. I'm sure you are all up to it.", Ozcar stated.

"So why can't we just have little boy Ozpin talk to Lionheart and convince him to lend aid?", Nora asked.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Lionheart seemed a little nervous during our conversation. Something's off.", Qrow noted.

"And nobody outside this room knows I've reincarnated. Best keep it that way for now.", Ozcar said.

"But, don't all the headmasters take orders from you?", Ren asked.

"They were supposed to. It would seem something else has swayed their opinions. I think you know who that might be...", Ozcar mused.

"Salem...", Team JNPRR noted.

"Yes, precisely. We need to recruit more Huntsmen.", Ozcar said.

"The ones I know of are MIA, though. I'm sure there are some others out there, though.", Qrow said.

"Well... There is Team Mirage...", Pyrrha mused.

About a half-hour later, Team JNPRR, Qrow and Ozcar Pin stood in stunned silence at Team MRJJ. They were currently in a small pub on the lowest levels of Mistral City. Pyrrha had contacted Javelin Green, one of her fans and another Huntsman. He had told her where to meet them. In the scummiest bar in all of Mistral. Jim's Bar. Team MRJJ argued with each-other as usual.

"That was the _plan_! You didn't stick to it!", Rhames Greyblood screamed.

"Didn't stick to it? You knocked out Javelin with your sword!", Jonk Amarillo argued.

"Awk! Guys, It wasn't my fault!", Javelin squeaked.

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep this up. I'm here all day.", Minstrel Jonas stated.

"If you would have just _learned _by _doing_ what your role is, then we wouldn't be having this conversation!", Rhames argued.

"At what roles are those?", Minstrel asked.

"Jonk is the heavy, he attacks first. I'm second as the off-tank. You hit hard and fast as DPS. And finally, Javelin, is the wild card. That's how it's supposed to _work_!", Rhames raged.

"Well, it didn't. Jonk got knocked out early, you knocked out Javelin and I decided it wasn't worth the time and rage quit. You just stood there, as a billion Grimm descended on you screaming about _our_ tactics. We're in the hole, guys. We need a job.", Minstrel complained.

"_You're _the ones in the hole!", Rhames yelled. "I have inheritance!"

Javelin noticed the group of onlookers staring at them incredulously. He slowly backed away from his teammates and walked over to Team JNPRR and friends.

"Oh hey, guys! It's not as bad as it seems.", he squawked.

"Really? Because I could've guessed otherwise...", Jaune noted.

Rhames shoved Jonk, the larger man knocking over a table in his fall. Rhames just stared at JNPRR, his crimson eyes on fire.

"Who the hell are these guys!?", Rhames said.

"They're the ones who hired us! We're going to join them! We're getting paid either in weapons or money by Hyperion, Atlas' wealthiest company!", Javelin beamed.

"Uh-huh, right. What are we doing? Protecting the inebriated?", Minstrel mocked, noticing Qrow with his flask out.

"You're going to be helping us find a specific someone. They're being held deep in bandit territory.", Ren noted.

"Ah! Bandits. My favorite. They usually scream the loudest when you cut off an ear!", Rhames said gleefully. "So inexperienced... So delicious..."

"Err right... You were recommended to us by a personal friend...", Ozcar said.

"We're taking orders from a kid? No way...", Minstrel exclaimed.

"No we're not. We're doing this for ourselves. When we find the hostage, we'll be out of your hair. You will be paid and then you can go and do whatever you usually do.", Qrow stated.

"How much are we being paid?", Jonk asked.

"One-hundred thousand Lien. I think that should cover hiring four _unique_ individuals like yourselves. Or you can have the most accurate guns in all of Remnant. The choice is yours...", Jaune noted.

"One-hundred thousand-!? That's more than fair. We could _buy_ anything for that much...", Minstrel choked.

"Or you could have the best on the market for your share of the loot. The choice is yours.", Jaune noted.

"Well, then. I think we're all on board. Lead the way!", Rhames said in agreement.

And with that, the strange Team MRJJ and Team JNPRR and friends left to strategize their next movement towards the Spring Maiden.

XXXXX

In a deep, dark and dank room, a small fire was lit upon a round pedestal. Two figures huddled close to it. A large wooden door was closed behind them.

"Of course, my dear. That's the goal in the end. Find Little Red and make her pay for burning off all my hair!", the taller of the two exclaimed.

"...", the other mused.

"No, it won't grow back!", the taller one said.

"...!", the other stated.

"I know it wasn't her fault for the Grimm attacking me!", the taller one said.

"!...?...!?", the other mused.

"Right, right... I should be a little more aware of my surroundings. I didn't lie, steal and cheat my way to success and survival for nothing!", the taller one noted.

"... ….. ?", the other mused.

"I survived, okay? I had to make sacrifices, like my gorgeous hair!", the taller one raged. "At least you managed to save my hat."

The large wooden door at the back of the room catapulted open, a dirty and tired Faunus stumbled into the dim light.

"Ah ha! Well, if it isn't the 'Fearless Leader' Adam Taurus! Fancy you showing up down here.", the taller figure noted.

"Hrrm. Roman Torchwick and his number one fan, Neo. I should be so lucky...", Adam grunted.

"And you should be! That door leads into the Under-Darkness, the sewers beneath the White Fang HQ. Which means, you've been stumbling around like a Minotaur in a maze for the last few weeks. Since you found us, you found the fabled exit.", Torchwick mused.

"Exit? I just see two dirty humans in a small room!", Adam complained.

"Ah, well. Open your eyes, my dear friend.", Torchwick said as he pointed to the far wall. A few of the stone bricks were looser than the others in a very specific pattern. Neo casually walked over to the wall and gave it a light push, the wall swinging open slightly on hidden hinges.

"...", Neo mused.

"That's right. A hidden exit and a perfect hideaway for people like us! A little birdie told me that your brother, Fjord actually came through on his promises. Hard to believe a bumbling idiot like him, but he managed to poison dear old Sienna Khan at her dinner table. Looks like you're back in charge, Taurus.", Torchwick said.

"Wait... Fjord did what?", Adam asked in confusion.

"He poisoned Sienna Khan, she's out of the picture as leader of the White Fang. After the negotiation with the brute and the two minions went south, I don't think anyone really took her seriously anymore. Now, I don't think she's dead, but it looks like the White Fang needs a new leader, what better time than now for the Great Adam Taurus to make his appearance again?", Torchwick stated.

"As much as I hate to believe you, I believe you. What happened to my brother?", Adam asked.

"Well, sadly. Fjord was caught almost immediately after poisoning Khan. Presumably, he's the new monster in the maze.", Torchwick said motioning to the door.

"Well, better him than me.", Adam said.

"Much love from the older brother, right Adam? That's all the news from the grapevine, bud. Now why don't I show you how to make an entrance?", Torchwick concluded.

Adam Taurus sighed heavily and slowly followed Torchwick and Neo out of the room. The hidden door opening soundlessly into a large chamber beyond. The next room was filled with casks of amontillado, barrels of bourbon and hundreds of bottles of wine. It was fairly obvious they were underground in a wine cellar of some sort far beneath the White Fang HQ. The sound of running water filled their ears.

"Just over here, old friend. Through that passageway is the aqueduct. We can follow it out towards Mistral City. Of course, the other door there will take you through the kitchens of the HQ and back towards the throne room. The choice is yours!", Torchwick announced.

Adam Taurus weighed his options and made his decision. He smiled.

XXXXX

A yellow motorcycle approached a large metal door in the middle of nowhere. The door was connected to a large wall that appeared to circle around some sort of garrison. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an old Mantle-era mining facility that had been abandoned several decades ago. A small call box was attached to a pillar next to the door. Yang went over and hit the button.

"You'll never get in here, you idiot raiders- Oh wait, you're a Huntress! Raven is expecting you!", a voice on the other side said. Within a few moments, the door slowly slid down and opened up, Yang walked her motorcycle through the doorway and into Raven's camp.

The 'camp' Yang had been directed to wasn't a small bandit camp like she assumed, it was more like a small town with several buildings. A rather risque pub, a small doctor's office, a weapon shop, a large mechanic's garage and a station for airships in the middle. An even larger building in the distance, was presumably where Raven lived and commanded all of her bandit buddies. Yang didn't meet any opposition, instead everyone seemed rather welcoming and carried on with their lives like her sudden appearance was normal. She continued towards the large building.

"Private David! Have you retrieved the power core like I asked you?", a shrill voice called.

"Err, yes Corporal Weiss, I have the power core.", Pvt. David said sheepishly.

"Good! You've done your duty! Dismissed!", the cold voice said.

Yang turned around. _"Cpl. Weiss?"_ she thought. She looked over to where she heard the voices and saw... Weiss Schnee dressed in some kind of faux military garb. She also noticed Scarlet David of team SSSN standing around like a lemon.

"Weiss? What are you doing here?", Yang asked.

"Yang!? Oh my gods, it's really you!", Weiss exclaimed.

Scarlet David walked off to install the power core by himself.

"You would never believe what happened to me, Yang. I escaped from Atlas, from the evil clutches of my Father. I met a bunch of other Hunstmen and fell off an airship into this place. And then, just when I thought I was about to be kidnapped and sold to slavers I was interrogated by the leader here, Raven. After she found out I wasn't a raider she offered me a job here and I accepted it!", Weiss rambled.

"Well, that's really strange, Weiss. Sounds like an adventure. I'm actually here to see Raven, she's actually... well... she's my mom.", Yang said awkwardly.

"Wait, really? Ohhhh... Now I see the resemblance! You both have the same face, and the same little flippy thing in your hair and now you're giving me the same strange look that she does. I knew she reminded me of someone!", Weiss beamed.

"Have you always been this nice? Anyways, where's Raven?", Yang noted.

"Huh? Oh yeah, she's in the big building. By the way, stay away from the town Mechanic, he's a little weird.", Weiss said.

Yang just continued past Weiss for the time being. Weiss was acting a little out of her usual character for some reason. Maybe it was the faux military uniform or maybe the head trauma from falling out of an airship. She didn't know, she just needed to talk to Raven. She walked past several other Huntsmen type guys, was offered a free gun from a guy named Michael Mamaril, and almost tripped over a small dancing Hyperion Clapper robot. After kicking the robot out of the way, she entered the first floor room of the big building. The room was a mess of laundry machines, storage lockers and paperwork thrown all over the room. A staircase lead upstairs.

A strange stag Faunus muttered incoherently into a recording device. He turned and looked at Yang.

"Oh, visitors! Don't get many of you. Ignore the smell of urine, that was me. Haha. I'm Doctor Stannis, I'm a researcher researching research on Dust applications. Would you be interested in conducting a fun experiment with me? It's probably almost certainly not going to kill you to death.", Stannis rambled.

Yang just prepared to punch the Faunus with her robot arm. Why was this happening to her?

"What did I tell you, Stannis? No more disintegrations!", Raven yelled as she descended the stairs from the upper floor. As she finally reached the bottom floor, her eyes lit up upon the sight of her wayward daughter, Yang. "Oh! Yang, you've finally found me. Welcome home."

"Mom...", Yang said.

"Oh, Yang. I really did mean to visit you. I just had some important missions to take care of. Things far larger than what dear old Tai told you about. Tell you what, why don't you stay the night? I'll order us some food from Oobleck Eats and we'll have a mother and daughter bonding moment. I promise, I'll tell you everything.", Raven said.

"I really didn't come here for that. I came here for Ruby. Dad told me about your Semblance. You can teleport to family members and Ruby is with Qrow. You're going to save me a lot of time.", Yang noted.

"Ruby? Oh right... The little one that... Qrow... is... the _uncle_ of. Right. If Ruby is with Qrow then she's probably in deeper trouble. Qrow follows Ozpin and his web of lies.", Raven noted.

"You said that strangely. What about Qrow?", Yang said.

"Qrow is Ruby's _uncle_, nothing more.", Raven said hesitantly.

"The other part.", Yang said firmly.

"Rule number one; Ozpin lies. Qrow follows him. If Ruby is with Qrow, then she's most definitely also involved with the liar. I'll explain more to you after dinner, my aura is low and I can't teleport you right now. I need a short rest.", Raven stated.

"Ugh. Fine. I'll stay the night. But you'd better tell me everything!", Yang said.

"Hey, no need to get snippy with me. I'll tell you everything you need to know.", Raven concluded.

XXXXX

Back in the Tropical Fun Time Place that Certainly Isn't a Metaphor for Death, Blake, Sun and Ilia enjoyed their beach time fun. They had been playing an intense three-way game of tetherball when a large airship flew overhead and began to land in town.

"Well, guys. I guess that's our ride. My father said he'd get us all to Mistral.", Blake noted.

"Awh. I was having fun too. Guess it's time to go back to work.", Ilia said.

"Don't worry! My grandma gave me some homemade snacks for the trip. It's going to be great!", Sun exclaimed.

The three new best friends made their way back to the Belladonna house. They passed the Albain twins who were being kept in the stockade and were displayed to all of the town. Many Faunus threw rotten food at them. Other monkey Faunus threw very different and unpleasant things. Upon reaching the oddly shaped family home of Blake, Sun took notice of the airship.

"Oh come on! That's a hunk of junk!", he complained.

"It definitely looks like one, but it's an old Mantle-era Dragonfly. They'll fly forever with a mechanic worth half his salt on board.", Blake noted.

"Hey! I recognize that ship! That's the Tranquility!", Ilia said.

The three reached the ship and noted their other 300 members patiently standing in line waiting to board. Ghira and Kali stood off to the side.

"Oh, Blake! I just wanted to wish you good luck. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call and ask.", Ghira said.

"Blake! I sobered up just for you. I'm sorry I was a little out of it. It's just been so stressful these past few years with the White Fang and all. You've really grown into a strong young woman. I couldn't be more proud of you. Now go, go and save your friends and the world!", Kali said.

Blake just nodded to her parents and got in line with the rest of her Faunus Resistance. They were checked by the crew of the airship.

"Right. So first, the rules. Everyone stays in the cargo hold. There will be meals and beds, don't worry. The infirmary is open to anyone, just ask. The upper decks are off limits and my first mate, Jane, will not hesitate to shoot first. The trip will be long and we will stop for fuel and refreshments halfway. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.", Captain Reynolds stated.

There weren't any questions. The Faunus all boarded in stoic silence. They were on a mission. Save Haven and prove to the world that Faunus were just as strong and selfless as everyone else. If the White Fang showed up, they'd have more than enough to take them on. Blake was a little worried. She had a feeling that something wasn't quite right and that they'd be reliving the Battle of Beacon all over again.

**End of Chapter 16. Conclusions and Conclusions. Hurray. Are you prepared? Ships are about to burn. The end is nigh. And guess who's about to die. **


	18. Monsters and Men

XXXXX

Chapter 17: Monsters and Men

XXXXX

Back in Raven's camp, Yang and Weiss shared a dinner together. After Raven found out the two of them knew each-other, she immediately called the newly christened Corporal Weiss to the main building. They were enjoying some Oobleck Eats delivery pizza. The Oobleck driver was given a hefty tip and sent on his way.

"I don't know, Yang. This Menagerie style pizza has pineapple on it. It's weird.", Weiss noted.

"It counters the saltiness of the ham, Weiss. It's a good pizza.", Yang argued.

Raven said nothing as she enjoyed her 'Meat Lovers' pizza and pecked away at it like a bird.

"So... You said you'd explain the whole thing with Ozpin and his lies. What's going on? What's the truth?", Yang asked her mother between bites.

"The truth is, Ozpin is not who he seems to be. He's not an old man, he's something else. He commands forces behind the scenes. He handpicks Teams he believes are worthy of his cause. He's fighting a being known as Salem, a witch or a siren, nearly immortal and as old as time. The man has been fighting his entire life and his life is as eternal as Salem's.", Raven said.

"What!?", Yang exclaimed.

"Yes. He's controlling the schools, picking teams to protect them and their secrets. Particularly the Vaults within. He's playing a dangerous game with innocent lives. Trying to beat an unbeatable foe. I had enough of his games and left years ago. But Tai and Qrow still follow him. Everyone here knows he's not the hero he claims to be. Because we were all once chosen to fight for his pointless cause.", Raven explained.

"And I'm supposed to believe this? Ozpin never gave me a reason to doubt him!", Yang argued.

"I don't expect you to, Yang. I know things. More than you ever could. The Grimm have a leader. I've seen people rise from the dead, and I know that magic is real. I can show you. Tai may have told you about my Semblance, but he never told you what Ozpin did to me and my brother did he?", Raven said.

"What could he have possibly done?", Yang said.

"Come outside.", Raven said.

Raven left the building, motioning to Yang and Weiss to follow. The two deliberated to a while before starting towards the door.

"So Ozpin is an immortal wizard and all the fairytales are true. Do you believe that?", Yang asked Weiss.

"Maybe? I've seen what she's about to show you, Yang. It's... strange.", Weiss noted.

Outside, Yang stood in silence. Raven was nowhere to be seen. Weiss stood at her side quietly.

"Haha, great joke, Mom. You disappeared again. What else are you going to show me?", Yang said.

A bird flew towards them, not stopping, and looked fierce and determined. Yang stared at it. She'd seen this bird before, many times before. In her childhood it would follow and caw at her. Even at Beacon she saw it from time to time. She shook her head in refusal as the bird transformed into her own mother. Raven slid to a stop a few feet short of her.

"Do you want to believe me now?", Raven stated.

"I want to believe.", Yang said.

XXXXX

Back in Mistral, Qrow leaned against a barstool in the Huntsmen's Lodge. Team MRJJ was showing off their skills to Team JNPRR and Ozcar. The room they occupied was a large training dojo with an open bar and several benches around the edges. Jonk Amarillo was showing off his strength Semblance.

"Alright guys, this is my weapon, _Selene Globus_, a four ton wrecking ball on a chain. I'm currently using my Semblance to lift it and throw it around. I'm a strong guy, but with my Semblance, Jonk smash!", Jonk the 8ft man announced, spinning the morning star like it weighed nothing.

Rhames gave a stoic golf-clap to Jonk and walked into the center of the room. He concentrated and conjured a cabinet of sorts using his Semblance.

"Unlike Jonk, I have an infinite number of weapons to choose from. I can conjure the Armiger and select a diamond weapon. I also don't need to carry them around physically, I always have the right weapon for the job.", Rhames noted as he pulled a diamond sword from the air.

Minstrel Jonas suddenly appeared in front of Rhames.

"I have super speed! Gotta go fast, right?", Minstrel announced as he seemingly teleported around the room and let off a flurry of blows against a training dummy faster than the eye could see.

Javelin Green just awkwardly stumbled over to his teammates.

"Awk! I'm the wildcard! Look at me! I'm the real Javelin!", he squawked. Rhames put a sword through his head, causing the image of Javelin to dissipate like smoke. "Nope, I'm Javelin, the real one!", another image called and was also turned to vapor by Jonk. "Ca-Caw! I'm a little birdie!", yet another image said. This final image was knocked on his ass by Minstrel. It actually was the real Javelin this time.

"So, that's us. Team MRJJ. Jonk the Heavy, Me the Diamond Warrior, Minstrel the Fast and Javelin the Infuriating. Those are our abilities and I think we're going to get along nicely.", Rhames concluded.

Team JNPRR looked mildly impressed. Team MRJJ wasn't as incompetent as they seemed.

A loud voice echoed through the lodge, it sounded raspy and annoyed.

"Qrrrrrow! Where the bloody hell are you!? We've been clomping halfway across the world looking for you! I know you're in here!", the voice called.

Qrow sat up in surprise. He knew who that was and didn't expect a visit from an old friend at the moment. He'd considered calling them in to help, but decided not to since Atlas had closed the borders and it would've been nearly impossible for them to get to Mistral.

"Clarkson? How'd you find me?", Qrow answered as an old and somewhat disheveled man rounded the corner. Clarkson's black velvet robes flowed freely behind him.

Clarkson McDiarmid and the rest of Team VRML entered into the dojo. Qrow looked a little surprised. Now they had everyone, a team of misfits, another team of misfits and a team of misfit professional Huntsmen. Finding the Spring Maiden would be easy.

"We just followed the trail of booze and tears, dear Qrow.", Liana stated.

"Oh great, you brought the daughter of the 'infamous' Doctor Merlot with you.", Qrow noted.

"As 'infamous' as his work may have been, Doctor Merlot's research on Grimm has lead to new developments against them.", Tonar said.

"Oh my gods! It's Uncle 'Thor'! Did you miss me?", Nora cried as she recognized her wayward Uncle and only living family member.

"Cut to the chase, Clarkson. We're not here for a tea party!", Risha exclaimed.

"Uhh, yeah. What she said. Why are you here?", Qrow asked.

"If you think we're here for you, we're not. We're not going to help you find whatever lost trinket you think is going to be stolen next. We're here because of what happened in Atlas and at the Vytal Festival. Systems were compromised and state secrets got out. We were able to regain control and track our hackers. We and the General have more than enough information to suggest that these people are looking to blind us. Take out the CCT and all communication for all the Huntsmen in the world.", Clarkson said. "If that's the case, then Haven is the next target. Attacking Atlas is suicidal and Vacuo is too far out and too dangerous because it's Vacuo. These people hit with guerilla tactics and a pleasant little school like Haven is an obvious target."

"You really think they're going to attack another Academy? Everyone is on edge now, the attackers would stick out like a sore thumb and be apprehended immediately.", Qrow reasoned.

"Of course, because Haven is completely unguarded right now due to... what was it... 'Plumbing Issues'.", Liana noted.

"Yeah, that's a thing. Knee deep in excrement and the sort like Lionheart said.", Qrow noted.

"Most likely his own, given the circumstances. What exactly were _you_ attempting to do?", Risha said.

"Well... I was-", Qrow was cut off.

"We were going to try to find the Spring Maiden. Even if the school falls, the Relic within will be safer with us.", Ozcar noted.

"Who's the kid?", Liana asked as she eyed Ozcar Pin.

"Oh he's... my new nephew. Taiyang had an affair with a bartender from Higanbana, so imagine my surprise when this little whipper shows up on my doorstep. Haha right?", Qrow said awkwardly.

"Well, it certainly seems like your family stays busy.", Liana acknowledged.

"And he has been kept up to date with the _situation._ I assume all of the children here are aware of the dire circumstances that have lead us here.", Tonar stated.

"They're aware. We've even got another Maiden with us. She's the red-haired one with the gold armor.", Qrow said.

"I know who that is. We all _know_ who that is, Qrow. She's on every cereal box and granola bar package from Atlas to Vacuo.", Clarkson said.

Clarkson and Team VRML talked with Qrow some more, a lot of their banter was cryptic and seemed to be in code. Pyrrha just turned to Jaune.

"Jaune, whatever happens next, I made sure you're going to be prepared for it. I went down to the marketplace and got you this.", Pyrrha said as she held out a small box. Jaune took the small package and opened it.

"Oh wow. This is awesome. It's an antique pistol! The _Unforgiven_, huh? Not Hyperion tech, but back in the day, these things were the best on the planet. Love it, Pyr. Just as much as you.", Jaune said.

The pistol was an older Pre-War model made by LunaCross Arms, it had a silver body with intricate gold accents and was chambered in .50 caliber. It could fire 7 massive bullets with the 3rd bullet hitting harder than all the others, nobody knew what the 7th bullet would do. The _Unforgiven_ could make the strongest men cry.

"I just need to find something like it now, I don't have the rifle mode of Milo anymore.", Pyrrha noted.

"Oh believe me, _Thanatos _and _Katastrofi_ have some interesting features. I'll have to show you whenever Qrow is done blabbering like an idiot.", Jaune noted.

"You're _looking_ for the Spring Maiden!? Qrow! You imbecile!", Clarkson scolded.

"What? I don't know where she is! I just know we need to find her and make sure she's safe and sound with us!", Qrow exclaimed.

"You don't need to find her, Qrow. She always seems to find you, no matter how dire the circumstance. How did you not know? She's had countless children for years, all of them male except for one. And she saved that one's life once and only once because she's stronger than all of her others.", Clarkson exclaimed.

"Wait... So... Oh. Aw shit.", Qrow cursed. He was a little slow on the uptake, yet it made sense to him. Why not be the leader of your own little rebel insurgency, have your own protection and hole up in an old dust mining colony? Maybe that's why she stayed away from the family so much, not because she hated them, but because she _knew_ what would happen if _the others_ found out. "So that means... if she falls then... AWW SHIT!"

"Yes Qrow. You know who the Spring Maiden is and you also know who her successor is. Why don't we move into the other room and have a nice long chat about 'keeping in touch'.", Clarkson concluded.

Qrow followed the other Huntsmen into the adjacent room, back to the barroom and lounge of the Hunter's Lodge. He shut the door to the dojo and locked it behind him. Team MRJJ was too busy arguing with each-other again to notice Team JNPRR.

"So, I guess we're not going after the Spring Maiden.", Ren noted.

"Yeah... About that... I have a feeling the Spring Maiden is going to come to us.", Jaune said.

"He was talking about Yang, right? Yang is the Spring Maiden?", Nora said.

"Yang doesn't have any children that I know of.", Ren said.

"No. Yang isn't the Spring Maiden. Her mother is.", Ruby said quietly.

"Her mother? Isn't she a little old to be a Maiden?", Jaune said.

"I guess she is now, but... If the last Spring Maiden disappeared ten years ago, then she would've been able to become the new one. I wonder who her other children are.", Ruby said.

"Well, she's Qrow's twin right? Who else here has red eyes and dark hair?", Pyrrha said.

"Rhames.", Nora noted as she looked at the bruiser arguing furiously with his teammates. His eyes seemed to burn as he yelled loudly.

"Ooh... Oh no...", Ruby said.

"Welp, Happy family reunion, Ruby Rose. Enjoy your new cousin. Pyrrha and I are going to town for a while. Don't come after us.", Jaune said.

"Yeah, we won't.", Ren, Nora and Ruby echoed.

Pyrrha followed Jaune away from the dojo and down a set of stairs. They'd have to find a place nice and quiet. Jaune had some things to show Pyrrha and she was excited to see them.

XXXXX

In a large boardroom beneath a purple sky, Salem looked incredulous. She was sitting at the head of a large table and just took notice of the new 'creature' Watts had sent to her.

"Okay, Watts. What is this thing?", Salem asked.

"Oh, so a pet Scorpion was too weak? Then let's try the pet Dinosaur!", Watts announced through the Spooky-Phone Grimm.

"A dino-what? What is this, seriously?", Salem asked, wanting to strangle Watts through the phone, but couldn't.

"Me Grimm:Lock King! Me Grimm:Lock smash stuff for queen!", the strange reptile Faunus announced.

"Right... Grimm:Lock. Are you strong or are you another worthless bozo like the last Faunus I had?", Salem chided.

"Grimm:Lock no bozo! Me Grimm:Lock stronger-est of all! Me smash really goodness for Queen!", the Faunus reiterated.

"Good. Fine. Watts, if you somehow manage to fail me in Mistral, you'll be the first to be 'smashed'.", Salem noted.

"Grimm:Lock smash tiny fuzzy man! Me eat fuzzy man's face caterpillar!", Grimm:Lock said.

"Well, at least he listens this time.", Salem said in exhaustion.

XXXXX

"Rise up! It's time we take the power back! Humanity has long since neglected us and they will fall! Khan was weak and expected me to die, but I return. I am stronger! And I am better! I am your leader!", Adam Taurus called from a balcony. A hail of applause and cheers arose from the dejected Faunus far below him. He kissed his fist and held it to the sky.

"Humanity may be the dominant powers here, but at the end of the day, if we're stronger than them and we're faster than them, then we can kill them! And that's better than money or a shitty little island! Stand with me and we will see their downfall!", Adam announced to more applause.

"If you're all with me, the last bastion of hope will fall. We will take Haven Academy and make sure... There's no safe Haven anymore...", Adam concluded. "We strike at the first full moon."

XXXXX

"Mistress! There's a problem!", Weiss called to Raven.

"Oh what is it?", Raven asked.

"Uhh that scary lady from before is back and she brought some more friends. They just want to talk to you. They're not trying to break down the door this time.", Weiss noted.

"Fine. I'll be a minute. Remember, you and Yang are leaving in a few hours. So get ready.", Raven noted. She walked to the front gates and climbed up onto the upper parapets so that she could look down upon the peons who came to grovel.

"Oh, you again. Miss I-Picked-My-Surname because I'm probably a Maiden, some steroid junkie and two loser teenagers. What's the occasion this time?", Raven noted.

"Hey! We're not losers!", Emerald called.

"Quiet, child! We're here to barter.", Cinder called up to Raven.

"Barter? Not for bandages and rations, I assume.", Raven said.

"We just want what you have. We're willing to make a deal. We'll take your idiot brother out for you and then you can be free of his attempts at recruiting more lackeys for Ozpin's Flying Circus.", Cinder reasoned.

"Take him _out_? Are you taking him out to dinner? I know what Qrow is doing. I don't care. You have nothing to offer.", Raven concluded as she left the parapets. "Private David, activate the auto-cannons."

Several dozen Badass-Auto-Cannons erupted from the fortress walls, all taking aim on the four idiots outside and opened fire. Cinder Fall and her lackeys immediately ran into the forest for cover, which failed as the trees around them began to splinter and fall. They ran further back and out of range.

"That went well.", Hazel noted.

"About as well as our meeting with the White Fang.", Mercury said.

"Nobody died.", Hazel noted.

"Yet.", Emerald added.

"Can we even take out 28 auto guns? Even with a Maiden? This is hopeless!", Mercury said.

"Shut up! I'm thinking!", Cinder scolded.

"Haha, well it seems like our good little Maiden has run out of options! I have a trick or two up my sleeve if you wish!", Roman Torchwick called from behind some brush.

"Torch_dick_. I thought you were dead. Nice hair.", Cinder mocked.

"Ahh well, a new look to match yours, I suppose. Seems like you need some help, and dear old Hazel failed to gain the support of the White Fang, what a tragedy!.", Torchwick said.

"Are you going to help or just needlessly mock my failure?", Cinder said in exasperation.

"Ah yes. I will help. Since I succeeded where you didn't. The White Fang obeys me and my new best friend, Adam Taurus.", Torchwick stated.

"Why didn't you say so? That's exactly what we need!", Cinder said.

"Come on, Princess. You have a lot to see. Specifically how I managed to get where I am. Learn from me and you'll never have to learn anything else.", Torchwick concluded.

XXXXX

Back in Mistral City, Jaune and Pyrrha had found a nice secluded spot away from everyone else. They stood just beneath the aqueduct in a small vacant lot. Jaune held out _Thanatos_, Pyrrha's new sword and _Katastrofi_ her new shield, the ones he'd given her back at Yang's house in Patch. He was showing off their alternate abilites.

"Right... So, if we just hit this switch here, just beneath the blade...", Jaune said.

_Thanatos_ transformed into a long barreled pistol, the blade of the sword splitting into three sections and a jet of energy lighting between the sections turning into a trident-like object. The 'barrel' of the gun began to rotate slowly, spinning the sectioned blades.

"And then we just attach the shield here and hit this button...", Jaune continued.

_Katastrofi_ integrated with the pistol form, the shield separating into quarters that bound to the frame of the gun like fins, now blocking the radiating energy jet. The barrel stopped spinning and sat calmly.

"Now we can fire it. It's called _Adrestia_ in this form.", Jaune stated.

Jaune pulled the trigger, the barrel spun up, the fins extended and the energy jet pulsed. A beam of pure energy shot from the barrel of the gun into the rocky wall beyond and carved into it, burning the rock into magma. The purple energy beam continued in a straight line with perfect accuracy for almost a minute before fading out.

"It has infinite ammunition thanks to my Father's research into _Eridium_ and its many interesting uses in weaponry. It will take a few moments to charge back up, but I think you only need one good hit, honestly.", Jaune noted.

Jaune hit both of the switches on the weapons again, they quickly reverted back into sword and shield.

"That's... Incredible. But... I need both to be able to use the rifle form?", Pyrrha asked.

"Unfortunately yes. It's a last ditch effort in case all else fails.", Jaune noted.

"I... I think that will work fine.", Pyrrha said.

"I'm not going to use an antique pistol as my primary weapon either, it's too beautiful to waste on Grimm.", Jaune added.

"We... We should probably head back. Qrow's probably figured this all out by now. This weekend is a full moon, too. You know what that brings right?", Pyrrha said.

"What does that bring?", Jaune asked.

"Uncertainty.", Pyrrha responded.

Jaune and Pyrrha headed back to the Huntsmen's Lodge. Nora would probably assume they were off doing other things, which they had done of course, in many interesting ways.

XXXXX

Back in the big bandit town, Raven paced around the room. Doctor Stannis eyed her like a creep. It was time for Yang and Weiss to depart. Raven hoped that Yang would take what she said and run with it. Ozpin was not to be trusted as far as you could throw him. Qrow was following him and most likely causing trouble. She'd catch up with her wayward daughter in the future.

"Yang! It's time.", Raven called.

Yang and Weiss hurried downstairs into the main room of the house. Yang made sure to shove Dr. Stannis out of the way, she didn't like him. The stag Faunus fell over in a heap.

"Yang, remember what I told you. Ozpin is not to be trusted. Qrow follows him. Ruby is most likely going to be in deep with whatever lies that old man has told her. Protect her and protect yourself. I love you... and I'll see you soon.", Raven said as she opened the portal.

The glowing red portal stood in front of the two teammates. It swirled and eventually settled on a vision of a small balcony. Qrow stood at it with his back turned, oblivious.

"Mom. I don't forgive you for what you've done. But I think I understand the reason you left a little better.", Yang said.

"Hey, Yang! Let's make a dramatic entrance!", Weiss called, pointing to the bright yellow motorcycle outside.

"Meh, okay.", Yang agreed.

Within a few moments, Yang and Weiss were on the back of _Bumble Bee_ and rode the motorcycle into the front doors of the house, they shot through the portal just as it closed behind them.

Raven sighed. "Kids these days..."

Qrow stood on the balcony on the 2nd floor of the house he'd rented for Team JNPRR. He drank from his flask and thought about what was going on. His sister was the Spring Maiden, how had he not known that? He shook his flask, maybe it was the drink? He was missing weeks of his life because of this stupid metal container. He cursed and took another gulp. He should've known when Raven announced almost a decade ago that she'd found an apprentice that she'd actually found the missing Spring Maiden. Whatever had happened that lead to Raven herself inheriting the powers was still unknown to him. Maybe she was a lot more motherly than she let on? She did save Yang's life back in Vale... His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a portal opening behind him. He straightened in shock, Raven was here? And then suddenly he was in pain and agony, falling off the balcony head first into the bushes below.

"Oh crap! Sorry, Uncle Qrow!", Yang called down to her uncle, his feet sticking out of the mulberry bush down on the ground. Perhaps riding a motorcycle through a portal wasn't such a good idea after all.

Downstairs on the first floor of the rented house, Qrow stumbled through the front door. Bits of leaves and dirt covered his body. He mumbled something under his breath and flopped down on the couch, still drinking heavily. Ruby just stared at him and turned towards the stairs. Everyone was downstairs getting ready for the nice dinner that Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren had prepared. Who was upstairs?

"Yang?", Ruby said quietly as Yang descended the stairs.

"Ruby! Oh my gods, you're okay!", Yang said.

"Yang! I missed you so much. I should've stayed and talked with you some more... But... You...", Ruby cried.

"It's okay, Rubes. I forgive you.", Yang noted.

"I love you, sis.", Ruby cried.

"Love you too.", Yang said.

Jaune and Pyrrha just stood silently at the happy reunion. Weiss walked over to them.

"Jaune. I'm sorry for how I behaved at Beacon. I... I'm not an heiress anymore. I'm a Huntress. And I think... We should all try to be something greater than what we thought we could be.", Weiss stated.

"Oh, kiddo. Looks like you're taking notes from my book. Glad to have you back.", Jaune noted.

"Weiss!", Ruby beamed.

The three members of Team RWBY embraced. It was a good time. A time for friends to get together. Dinner was ready and the whole team was hungry. They were only missing one more member to be reunited as Teams RWBY and JNPR. Then it would be their time. As time was running out.

**Chapter is done. A short one I think. Kinda boring. But I needed to get the teams back together as this bizarre work of fiction currently follows Vol. 5 very loosely. Enjoy the next chapter. **


	19. The Moron's the Merrier

XXXXX

Chapter 18: The Moron's the Merrier

XXXXX

Team RWY and JNPR sat around their dinner table. Ren had cooked a lot of food, perhaps showing off his inner Chef Geoffrey Ramsey, a gourmet chef from Norther Nor North Havermeyer with a voice crack and a booze-laden recipe book.

"So.. wait.. Wait... You fell out of a window and into an airship and just happened to run into my Uncle and his battle buddies?", Jaune asked.

"I guess? Your Uncle is a very well-spoken man. He convinced me I had more to live for.", Weiss noted.

"So Ren fought his nightmares and became a better person, that's what you mean?", Yang said.

"Well, sorta. Except his nightmares were actual Grimm. Like a man and a mare combined.", Nora stated.

"And Pyrrha is now a Maiden?", Weiss added.

"Well, I suppose. I do have some Maiden powers. Not a whole lot, really.", Pyrrha said.

"Well, you have enough to kill off one of Salem's right hand minions!", Jaune said.

"Stop trying to depreciate yourself, Pyrrha. You're probably the strongest one here.", Yang added.

"I guess. I just don't like all the attention.", Pyrrha noted.

"Hey, guess what? Those Hyperion goons gave me a new arm!", Yang said as she showed off her new prosthetic.

"Ooohh... Is it just as strong as the old one?", Ruby beamed.

"It's stronger! And it never gets tired.", Yang bragged.

"I wish my arms never got tired.", Nora said.

"It seems like we've come a long way since Beacon.", Ren noted.

"Of course! We're stronger and faster and more deadly! This is what we've been trying to do!", Jaune exclaimed.

"Urrrgh. Can you kids go upstairs or something? My head is killing me!", Qrow complained.

Within a few moments, the whole group had relocated upstairs into the many open rooms. Team MRJJ was loudly arguing in one of the rooms, their door was shut and locked.

"Who are they?", Yang asked.

"Uhmmm... They were supposed to be helping us.", Pyrrha noted.

"How?", Yang asked.

"We really don't know.", Ruby noted.

"Well. Here's the story so far... Get your seatbelts on, kiddos. This is a wild ride!", Jaune said.

Jaune and Pyrrha explained what was going on with the whole Maidens and Magic fiasco. Yang and Weiss just stared at them. Raven had said something similar. Now they had a little more detail, this time from Qrow and Ozcar Pin's side of the story. Ozcar sat in front of everyone. He was a little nervous. Qrow just drank from his flask, presumably to forget he ever had this conversation.

"So... Why exactly did you turn them into birds?", Yang asked.

"I gave them the power to go anywhere. They were to become my eyes and ears.", Ozcar said.

"Hey, I like this. I like being a bird.", Qrow noted.

"Well, the names fit. I'm sure that wasn't part of your whole scheme either, right?", Jaune noted.

"Well. That's just ironic. I guess.", Ozcar said.

"Haha, yeah. Two birds of a feather stick together until the cats come.", Jaune added.

"Err... Yes.", Ozcar responded.

"So you gave them magical powers. Did you give anyone else powers? The General or...Professor Port... or someone?", Ruby asked.

"It was a minuscule amount of power. I gave most of my power away to four young women long ago. They became the first maidens.", Ozcar noted. "I never meant to deceive anyone. We cannot cause a panic. You should know only what you need to know for now."

"Bullshit. Spill the beans, Oz. Why should we even continue?", Jaune asked.

"Everyone has a choice. Raven and Qrow accepted their powers as gifts. One twin left to pursue her own interests. You can all do that now if you choose.", Ozcar said.

"I'll let Ruby decide. If she goes, I go.", Yang said.

"Same with me. Pyrrha, be my voice.", Jaune added.

"We're going to stay. We've already got too much involved in this to leave.", Pyrrha and Ruby noted.

"Besides, Haven is in trouble. We can't stand around and do nothing!", Pyrrha announced.

"Then it is decided.", Ozcar noted. "I suggest you take the night off. Tomorrow is another day."

As troubling as the conversation and exposition had been, the two teams attempted to get some rest. Jaune slept restlessly, his dreams filled with possible outcomes of the coming day.

XXXXX

Later that night, Qrow received a message from Lionheart. "Come meet me immediately. The Council has made a decision.", the note read. Qrow ran from room to room, awakening Team RWY, JNPR and MRJJ. Team VRML had headed off to search for Raven. They already knew what she was and knew of the possible dangers of her being exposed as a Maiden.

"Come on! Time to go. Lionheart sent me a message. It's sounds suspicious, be on your guard!", Qrow said to each team.

Within a few moments, the three teams were headed to Haven Academy. The full moon shined brightly over them, illuminating their path and shrouding the shadows.

"Oh I don't think we're being paid enough for this. I want a little bonus.", Rhames said to Jaune.

"You'll get paid based on performance.", Jaune noted.

The Baker's Dozen of Huntsmen walked through the empty moonlit campus. The only lights on were within the main hall itself. At least Lionheart was actually waiting for them this time. Qrow pushed the front doors open and lead the teams inside.

"Oh... Well... Hello. There's a lot more of you than I remember.", Lionheart said hesitantly.

"The moron's the merrier or however it goes.", Qrow slurred. "What did the council say?"

"Why are you so heavily armed?", Lionheart asked.

"We're Huntsmen, Leon. Come on.", Qrow said.

"I.. uhh... I just... Well the council said...", Lionheart stuttered.

"Hello there boy and girls. Did you miss me?", a cold and sinister voice said from the hallway behind Lionheart.

Cinder Fall, in all of her scarred glory stood next to Lionheart. Her minions, Emerald and Mercury followed just behind.

"Oh, holy nutballs! What happened to your frickin' face!?", Jaune mocked.

"Cinder...", Ruby noted.

"I don't remember you... Blond-haired guy... Jack, was it?", Cinder said.

"Hey, I'll tell you my name when you tell me why it looks like you headbutted a belt sander!", Jaune mocked again.

Doors began to shut behind them. Ozcar took immediate notice. Hazel was here. He was locking them in. This was not going to end well.

"The Fang is prepping the demolition charges outside. Nobody in and nobody out.", Hazel said stoicly.

"It's a trap!", Nora yelled.

"Leon! How long have you been with them!?", Qrow exclaimed.

"Oh, so slow on the uptake. Leonardo here has been with us all along. The entrance to the Vytal Festival was just the beginning.", Cinder said.

"You! You did this! You killed all the other Huntsmen!", Qrow raged.

"Me? I had nothing to do with that. You can thank my master for that.", Cinder noted.

"You...!", Qrow was at a loss for words.

"Oh and now I have a second chance too. Guess what. Everyone dies. Starting with the little red gladiator over there. She should've died on that tower, but the other little red warrior stopped me. How's it going to feel, Jack? When you can't save those you love? It's going to feel so good. So good for me.", Cinder said coldly.

Pyrrha lanced out with her sword, sending it towards Cinder Fall with her Semblance. The sword was easily blocked.

"Oh I am going to enjoy this. I've had time to prepare, too. Give in to your fate, dear. You were never supposed to live.", Cinder called.

"Yeah just keep talking. That works.", Jaune said as he cocked his guns and aimed at his enemies.

"I did everything I did for the greater good, Qrow. You have to believe me!", Lionheart pleaded.

"You betrayed Ozpin! He trusted you! He was your friend!", Qrow raged.

"Oh, old dusty Qrow. So lost in your whiskey-scented hole. Leonardo has been feeding us information for years, isn't that right?", Cinder said.

"I didn't mean to... I just wanted to live!", Lionheart cried.

"Enough. I've heard enough. Leon... You bastard!", Qrow raged as he pulled his own sword and transformed it into a scythe.

"Everyone. Stay calm... Stay calm.", Ozcar urged.

Qrow lunged forwards towards Lionheart. His rage fueled him as he brought his blade down on the traitor. Lionheart blocked the blow and stumbled back. Mercury took on Yang, readying his attacks.

"Time for a rematch, Blondie!", Mercury called.

Yang raged as well, her eyes turned red as she brought _Ember Celica_ up against Mercury's dive-kick. She shot and narrowly missed a headshot. Weiss held Myrtenaster up en-garde and walked towards Emerald.

"I don't think so.", Emerald mocked. She used her Semblance and conjured a hideous Grimm version of Jacques Schnee. It jumped at Weiss and caused her to step back in shock.

Ruby Rose stood in shock. Everyone she knew seemed to be occupied fighting. She looked around the room.

Team MRJJ readied up. Rhames pulled a diamond sword from his Armiger and swung at Hazel. Jonk spun up _Selene Globus_ and brought it down into the ground, knocking up pieces of the floor. Minstrel Jonas seemingly teleported around Hazel hittimg him at random and Javelin conjured phantasmal Javelin clones and mocked their mutual foe. Hazel seemed to swipe randomly at his attackers. Ruby used her own Semblance and scythe and knocked Hazel off his feet. It was time to defend her friends.

Ozcar Pin just looked at Cinder Fall. It was also time for a rematch. He really didn't know when to quit.

**Chapter End. I guess. This next part is long. Very long. This is where the proverbial excrement hits the rotors. Sorry for the short length.**


	20. The Biggun

XXXXX

Chapter 19: RWBYlands: The Huntsmen Collection

XXXXX

Blake, Ilia and Sun rode quietly in the cargo hold of the _Tranquility_. It had been a long ride. None of the other Faunus attempted to enter the upper decks after a secret White Fang agent tried to hijack the ship. First Mate Jane had shot first and asked questions never. The body of the Fang agent was tossed out of the cargo hold door unceremoniously.

"Attention passengers. The _Tranquility_ is landing in Sanctuary. Repeat, we are landing to refuel. Anyone who wants to leave may do so now.", an announcement announced to everyone.

"Sanctuary? I've never heard of that town...", Blake noted.

"Sounds like a nice place. A Sanctuary is a safe Haven.", Sun said.

"I guess we can stretch our legs. It's been hours since we left Menagerie.", Ilia stated.

As the ship landed in the town's airship dock, the three Faunus disembarked with several others. It seemed as they weren't the only other ones who were getting cabin fever. The town they'd landed in was heavily fortified. It had a rather risque pub, a small doctor's office, a weapon shop, a large mechanic's garage and a larger building overlooking the rest. A circular wall surrounded the town.

A man greeted them, he introduced himself as Private David.

"Welcome to Sanctuary. We're the last bastion of the resistance. Enjoy your stay.", he said.

Blake recognized the man as Scarlet David, a member of Team SSSN.

"Scarlet!? What the hell are you doing here?", Sun asked.

"Oh hey, Sun! I was just interning here. I figured I needed some more experience! Good to see you!", Scarlet David noted.

"Who's that?", Ilia asked.

"He's a teammate of mine! We fought in the Vytal Festival together!", Sun exclaimed.

"Scarlet. You have to come with us. We need all the help we can get.", Blake said.

"Sorry, I can't. I have a commitment here. I'll see you around, Sun!", Scarlet said as he departed.

Another crewmember of the _Tranquility_ flew past them, literally. A blue butterfly Faunus soared into town.

"Oh this is hella sweet! I better get some souvenirs! Max is going to freak!", Chloe Price, the butterfly said as she flew past.

"Hey, wait up! Carolina is going to want some too!", David Washington noted as he ran after the butterfly.

First Mate Jane walked up behind the Faunus trio and stood beside Captain Reynolds.

"Welp, better let them have their fun, Captain.", the man inexplicably named Jane said.

"Right... I have to go see the mistress.", Captain Reynolds noted.

Blake, Sun and Ilia turned to Jane and stared at him.

"Your name is Jane?", Sun asked.

"Uhh yeah. What about it?", Jane said.

"Jane is a girl's name.", Blake noted.

"Yeah, well Jane ain't no girl!", Jane said.

"Why?", Ilia asked.

"Well, I'm a twin. And my parents forgot which one was which before they split. So I'm Jane and she's George. It... It was a tough childhood.", Jane noted before he walked slowly after his Captain.

"Well that was odd.", Ilia noted.

"Seconded.", Blake said.

In the largest building, Captain Reynolds and his First Mate explained the situation. It was strange and everyone was in a weird place.

"So that's what's going on. I've got 300 bodies willing to fight for the safety of Haven.", Reynolds said.

"Hm. I'm almost ready to join you.", Raven noted.

"Almost? I heard you have blood fighting for Haven. A little birdie told me.", Reynolds said.

"Ergh... Fine. More than one of my offspring as I've been told. I'll go with you. She deserves that, I promised her. The boys, though...", Raven struggled.

"The boys are boys. They need a mother's love to show them what is right and what is wrong.", Reynolds said.

"And if I had a bet who this 'birdie' was...", Raven asked.

"Yep. It's him. He knows, Raven. He knows now, at least. You owe him an explanation.", Reynolds stated.

"Fine, fine... I guess I'm the Deus ex Machina then.", Raven said.

"Maybe, but I think Ironwood has you beat on that one.", Reynolds added.

"Goddammit, Reynolds! You know what I mean! Fine, I'm the... Unkindness that follows the liars and cheats. You get it! I'm going with you, be happy for once!", Raven exclaimed exasperated.

"Oh I'm happy you're happy. It's time to go. I'm sure the _livestock _are ready to depart again.", Reynolds stated.

A foghorn blasted. The _Tranquility_ was departing again. Chloe and Washington returned with their arms full of souvenirs and Jane and the Captain boarded in silence. A stranger, a woman with dark feathery hair followed behind them. She seemed uneasy, but everyone was when they were boarding a ramshackle ship like the _Tranquility._ It would only be a few more hours before the ship landed in Haven under the full moon of _uncertainty._

XXXXX

Back in the Main Hall of Haven Academy, Hazel had managed to fight off Team MRJJ. He walked slowly towards Ren and Nora who stood their ground. The two Huntsmen readied their weapons against the beast of a man.

"I don't want to fight you. I'm only here to protect the lady.", Hazel noted.

"And we are here for the same.", Ren noted.

"Fine. Be that way...", Hazel said as he raised his fists in a brutal attack.

At this time, Lionheart had managed to run away like the coward he was. Cinder paid no attention to the young boy beneath her. She didn't care to kill children and focused on those she knew. Ozcar quickly climbed the stairs towards where Lionheart was hiding.

"Kid, you should just leave. This isn't your fight.", Lionheart said.

Ozcar pulled out his cane and flourished it.

"Oh... Oh gods... Ozpin? I... I didn't mean to... You have to understand!", Lionheart trailed off.

"Yes, Leo. What happened to you!?", Ozcar asked.

"Ozpin! I don't want to fight you! You're my best friend! You don't know what turmoil I went through when I thought you died! Please! Spare me!", Lionheart pleaded.

"Leon. I... I forgive you. I only wish that you come to your senses and fight for what is right.", Ozcar said hesitantly.

"Oz. You've got it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I didn't have any other choice!", Lionheart cried.

"Then prove yourself. Make things right...", Ozcar stated.

Lionheart stopped hiding. He stood up in confidence and pulled out his only weapon, a disc-like object and fired. He wasn't going to be a coward today.

Jaune was knocked down. Cinder had struck him from behind. Pyrrha made her own attacks, only using her Semblance. It seemed like the Maiden portion was holding back for some reason. Jaune's mask began to fall off.

"Oh... I remember you! You're the dense one!", Cinder mocked.

"Go to hell! I'm the hero!", Jaune said in defiance.

Jaune clashed with Cinder again, he was using the close-combat tactics that Pyrrha had taught him. He pulled out the bastard-sword form of _Conference Call_ and engaged the mid-life crisis Maiden again. His attacks were blocked again by Cinder's Semblance.

"Stop messing with me and fight!", Jaune raged.

Cinder knocked him down again, Jaune fell and rolled several times, his weapons launching out of his grasp across the room.

"Did you really think you could take me? You're a failure. You've always been a failure. You're nothing just like the former Heiress. Just stop trying. Give up.", Cinder cooed.

"No... No... NOOO! I am not going to die like this. Not when we're so close. And not at the hands of a false Maiden! I'm supposed to save the world. I'm supposed to restore order! You're a savage! You're a maniac! You're the villain! And I... I am the goddamned hero!", Jaune raged.

"Oh... Sorry kid...", Cinder mocked as she knocked Jaune out and across the room. Pyrrha raged. She saw Jaune fall again, his mask coming off his face and his lambda shaped scar exposed again. He laid lifelessly on the stone floor.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha shouted as her eyes became encompassed in flame again. The Maiden within awoke and she launched towards Cinder Fall.

"Oh really? Again? Didn't you lose so much already? Are you ready to go down again?", Cinder mocked.

"We have not lost anything. We have found it again. We are ready for the end. And we want the rest of our powers back!", PyrrhAmber raged as she took to the air and launched lightning bolts towards Cinder Fall.

The bolts struck true, Cinder Fall felt a tug at her Maiden abilities. Pyrrha or whatever laid sleeping within her had awakened and demanded its other half back. Cinder felt the Maiden within herself begin to fade.

"No! You cannot have them back! I am the rightful owner!", Cinder raged.

The two maidens fought, they flew at each-other, launching from the corners of the room above their teammates on the ground. Cinder letting loose with an amplified Semblance and a flurry of glass arrows, one arrow wasn't enough the last time, why not six? Pyrrha dodged to the side in a barrel-roll and lanced out with a spear made of lightning, stabbing repeatedly towards Cinder. The older woman had underestimated the Spartan and flew backwards for cover.

Pyrrha activated her shield. "Come and face me! Taste my wrath!"

Below on the ground, Ruby watched the two Maidens. Wrath of the gods as she thought. She turned back and continued to cover her friends.

XXXXX

"What do you mean she's not here!", Clarkson McDiarmid exclaimed. He shook the frightened stag Faunus violently.

"S-She's not here. She left? On an airship?", Doctor Stannis noted.

"She was supposed to wait for _us!_ She knew what we had to do!", Clarkson raged. "Why in all that is holy did she leave before we got here!?"

"I-I have no idea, sir. There are perhaps a lot of reasons why she didn't want to stay. Oodles and noodles and toaster strudels worth of reasons. Six seasons worth of reasons to leave. I thought I had a daughter once, but it turned out to be a piece of driftwood. I had to burn it to stay warm.", Dr. Stannis rambled.

Clarkson dropped the Faunus and turned around. "What is with these idiots. She's probably headed to Haven. I heard a rumor that our favorite smuggler is on his way there."

"Oh, you mean Hanz Ohlo? He had a big furry dog that was really _really_ friendly.", Liana asked happily.

"Not him! Reynolds!", Clarkson exclaimed.

"Let's go, Liana. Mac is getting a little heated right now. Best we head back and find Qrow before the excrement hits the rotor as they say.", Tonar noted.

"It's 'the shit hits the fan', Tonar.", Liana said.

XXXXX

Adam Taurus stood upon a hilltop, he had a clear sight of Haven Academy from the grassy knoll that he currently occupied. To his behest, Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan also joined him.

"...", Neo said.

"Ah, the charges are set. So when do we blow this place, Taurus?", Torchwick asked.

"I'd like to do it now, but we have to wait for the 'mistress' and her minions to escape first if we want to convince the world that those idiot Huntsmen were behind this.", Adam said.

"You did notice the signs, right? This is going to get very stinky.", Torchwick noted.

"I noticed. If those charges were placed wrong, then the world will blame the destruction on that ridiculous feud with the Plumbers Union instead. Not a bad ending, but not one of the glory that the Faunus deserve.", Adam noted.

"?", Neo asked.

"The Plumbers Union is fighting the Constructor's Union in Vale. It started after we made our escape. Professor Peach's boyfriend made some strange enemies during the recovery effort.", Torchwick explained.

"...?", Neo asked.

"Why yes, Professor Peach's boyfriend _is _a Faunus. He's a tortoise or something. Sadly the Taurus brothers weren't able to recruit him.", Torchwick noted.

"...", Neo accepted.

The rather one-sided conversation was interrupted as the sounds of a large group approaching cut them off. Adam Taurus turned his binoculars towards the direction of the sound and stepped back in shock. There were at least 300 other Faunus approaching quickly. They rode on motorcycles bearing the family crest of the Belladonna's. Some wielded bows and stood up on their bikes and fired at the White Fang.

"Oh dear. It looks like they're about to swamp us. Perhaps you should head back to the HQ?", Torchwick said as he surveyed the approaching army.

"Never! We stand. The White Fang can handle them!", Adam said, he grimaced as the roar of a large engine filled his ears.

The White Fang was suddenly and violently overrun by an old Dragonfly airship, a gruff man standing out the cargo hold door fired a Callahan Full-Bore Auto-locking machine gun towards them. The White Fang members began to run in seek of cover. It was a massacre. The ship continued around the White Fang's barricade now launching cannons full of burn dust.

Down on the ground below, Blake Belladonna received a Scroll message from Captain Reynolds. "Did you like that? I call it 'Stormborn's Rage." Blake just shook her head and addressed the army of free Faunus.

"This is where we make our stand. Tonight, the world will know that Free Faunus left their homes and peaceful lives to stand against a tyrant! When this battle is over, everyone will know that even a 'Fearless Leader' like Adam Taurus can bleed!", Blake stated confidently.

A roar of agreement filled Blake's ears. The Faunus were ready to fight. Ilia stepped up.

"Faunus of Menagerie! Prepare for battle. Tonight we dine in Haven!", Ilia announced.

The 300 Faunus charged down the hillside towards the White Fang. Between the blasts of gunfire from the _Tranquility_ and the onslaught of ground troops, the World-Feared Fang began to falter. Adam Taurus raged upon sight of Blake.

"Torchwick! Kill her! Bring me her head!", Adam raged.

"Ooh, look at the time. Looks like I've got to go and get my drycleaning. Good luck, Taurus!", Torchwick said as he and Neo quickly made haste away from the battle.

XXXXX

Hazel was running out of dust crystals to inject into himself. The little annoying bird-man was getting on his nerves. He swung forcefully at him, Javelin's visage disappeared.

"Nope! Not it!", Javelin crowed.

Hazel tried again, he reached out to strangle the Faunus. Javelin dissipated into smoke.

"Try something else!", the Faunus called.

Hazel was furious now, he used all of his might to try to crush the little birdie into paste. Javelin just dodged his blow easily.

"That!?", Javelin mocked.

The smaller and faster Faunus ducked and punched Hazel straight in the plums, the large man doubling over in pain. Javelin had found Hazel's only weakness.

"Swing batter, batter. Swing!", Rhames called to Jonk.

Jonk spun up _Selene Globus_ alongside Nora, both hit Hazel at the same time and launched him through the wall at mach speed.

"Muen Behh!", Javelin announced.

"What?", Nora asked.

"It's a battle cry.", Javelin said before splitting into four more Javelin clones which took off in different directions.

Outside, Adam Taurus ducked to avoid the prone form of Hazel flying through the wall closest to him.

"What the hell is going on in there!", Adam screamed.

"I... I have it under control.", Hazel noted before brushing himself off and heading back inside.

Team MRJJ celebrated for a few seconds before realizing that Hazel was back and even angrier than before. Hazel grabbed fistfulls of raw dust crystals, snorted some and stabbed them into his arms. Hazel raged and punched Jonk in the side of the head and knocked him out. The larger man stomped over Javelin and simply backhanded the bird out of the way, the phantasmal Javelins dissipating as their host went unconscious.

"Uh oh. Oh no... OH NOOO!", Rhames said as he realized his team was falling. Minstrel was preoccupied alongside Yang and Ren fighting off Mercury and Emerald.

Rhames pulled out a ring, it was small and made of obsidian. It was embossed with a small crest. The crest looked almost like a wing with a gear in the center. He kissed it and slid it onto his finger.

"My mother told me never to use this unless I knew my life was in danger.", he said to nobody in particular.

A faint blue flame began to emanate from his eyes like the flames of the Maidens. He slammed his fist into his palm and conjured his Semblance, a diamond cabinet appearing in front of him. He pulled out a sword and stood at the ready.

"You will fear me. I am Rhames Greyblood, Branwen Bastard and Firstborn Son of the Mad King of the Violet Crown. You will fall.", Rhames announced pulling Ruby and Yang's attention for a moment. Qrow just looked shocked.

Hazel stood defiantly. "Another Branwen? Great."

Rhames shot farwards, a trail of blue flame kicking up behind him, he seemingly teleported to the large man and slammed him with the sword he'd conjured. In the blink of an eye, Rhames pulled out a diamond morning star and swung landing another blow. Hazel attempted a bludgeoning strike that missed as Rhames blink-dodged out of the way and conjured a shield that he used to bash Hazel in the face with. Hazel stumbled for a moment.

"You're dead meat!", Rhames raged.

Pulling out all the stops, Rhames conjured every weapon he had, teleporting within the blink of an eye and hitting Hazel every time. Rhames kicked Hazel into the air and launched at him like a Maiden, pulling every weapon from his Semblance into one long chain of attacks. Hazel was taking a brutal beating. No longer held within a mystic cabinet, the diamond weapons floated around Rhames freely. Out of dust crystals, energy and will to fight, Hazel stumbled backwards and downwards. Rhames pulled out a massive warhammer and swung it into the prone man's face and launched him through the roof of the Academy. Hazel soared into the sky and eventually low orbit before falling back to the ground like a meteor. He landed outside in the middle of a large group of White Fang and left a sizable crater.

For a brief moment, the ground battle stopped. Yang and Ruby stared at Rhames. Qrow also stared at him as well.

"What... What was that!?", Qrow asked.

"I am the blood of kings and cretins.", Rhames noted as his Aura and Semblance faded. He collapsed next to his teammates, exhausted from the fight.

Yang, Ruby and Qrow resumed battle with Emerald and Mercury, Rhames was laying down and his armored kilt was up. They didn't really need to see that at the moment.

"Okay. You took out the dumb muscle. We're the brains here!", Emerald mocked.

Yang promptly landed a fist into the green-haired girl's face. Emerald didn't say much afterwards. Emerald made a mental note to schedule a dental appointment if she survived. Mercury jumped over Emerald and kicked towards Yang, firing his feet-guns at her. Yang just caught his ankle and swung him around and back into Emerald. The two minions fell on top of each-other in confusion. Qrow turned and looked at Lionheart again, the bastard was still alive. Lionheart just nodded at Qrow sadly and shot, the blow hitting Mercury's counterattack and knocking him prone.

"Oh. I understand now. We're not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with _us!_", Qrow noted before he swung his scythe at Mercury, the silver-haired boy narrowly dodging out of the way. Qrow took out his flask and dumped it over his attacker's head. Yang took this initiative and hit Mercury with a fire-punch that ignited the booze that now covered him. Mercury just ran around like an idiot screaming.

"Mercury! Stop!", Emerald cried. Her cries were cut short as a blast of rose-petals slammed into her gut and set her flying.

Ren and Minstrel concentrated their fire on the flying green-haired girl and launched her even further. Emerald was flying out-of-control towards the lavatory. Yang noticed her descent arc and fired _Ember Celica_, sending an explosive shot after the minion. The bullet followed just behind Emerald.

Emerald just closed her eyes. She was heading towards a currently closed bathroom stall door. She crashed through the wooden door and landed face-first into the toilet bowl. The explosive bullet found her and exploded the porcelain throne. The already overtaxed septic system burst forth and coated the ceiling of the restroom, Emerald, and anyone near the door of the lavatory. The muck flowed freely into the main hall.

"Haha! Three points, ya dirty whore!", Minstrel mocked.

Seemingly done with combat, Team RWBY relaxed for a moment. The flustered White Fang from outside burst through the door, breaking down the locks that Hazel had set up earlier. Upon sight of the Huntsmen, the Fang readied weapons and engaged them. Also, upon sight of the many White Fang intruders, Leonardo Lionheart promptly passed out in fear and peed himself. Again.

"Aw man! When are these assholes going to give up!", Minstrel complained.

Yang, Ruby, Weiss and the remaining members of JNPR and MRJJ ran outside to defend the main hall. Weiss had zoned out during a lot of the combat. She's received a message from her mother, it had read that she was divorcing Jacques as soon as possible since he had almost driven her favorite daughter to suicide. Weiss was happy and laid out a glyph of freezing that stopped most of the White Fang invaders in their tracks.

"Yay! Weiss is back!", Ruby chimed after seeing Weiss seemingly frozen in contemplation for most of their combat.

"Weiss? Ruby! Yang!", a voice called.

Blake ran towards them, her Faunus resistance behind her.

"Holy crap! Blake! You're okay!", Yang exclaimed.

"I am. I... uh... I had a little bit of a crisis. I went to a happy tropical place, but I realized that my friends needed me more.", Blake stammered.

Ruby just stared at her for a moment, remembering something Pyrrha had said.

"It's good to see you, Blake! I missed you soooooo much. We can be a team again! Team RWBY is back!", Ruby exclaimed.

"Yeah... uh... About that...", Blake trailed off.

"Heya! We're here to help!", Sun called.

"Oh gods. It's Sun!", Weiss noted.

"Oh stop! Let's just beat these guys off, then we can take you to see the magical happy tropical place!", Sun noted.

Yang facepalmed hard and shook her head. This was unexpected.

"Guys! There's a battle here! We need to focus!", Yang exclaimed.

"Oh right.", Blake and Sun noted.

Blake and Sun readied their attacks alongside their friends and teammates. Javelin had recovered and stood up next to the monkey Faunus.

"Alright chums, let's do this!", Javelin exclaimed.

"Who's going first?", Weiss asked.

"Minstrel! Jonas!", Minstrel exclaimed as he catapulted into the hoard of White Fang.

"Oh gods, he just ran in! We have to help him!", Javelin noted as he used his Semblance and split into 4 separate Javelins again. Sun followed suit and used his own similar Semblance. The boys and girls were back in town again.

Back in the main hall, Pyrrha and Cinder continued to face off against each-other. Pyrrha now taking advice from the voice in her head, conjured up a whirlwind that pulled everything including the muck from the lavatory into a maelstrom that smashed into Cinder. The older woman recoiled in horror as the mess slammed into her. Cinder retaliated and pulled out a long spear made of burn dust and hurled it towards the Spartan. Pyrrha dodged the spear again and switched her physical weapons into _Adrestia_ and fired a shot, the focused beam tore through the main hall, burning the walls and floors. It set Cinder's dress on fire as the other Maiden dodged out of the way.

Cinder patted out the flames and flew upwards again. Pyrrha was hard to hit. Pyrrha had the actual Fall Maiden guiding her. She looked around for a viable way to hit the Spartan where it counted and then focused on it. Pyrrha realized what Cinder's next target was and flew downwards towards it as well.

Jaune sat up on the ground in a daze, the main hall was in ruins. Pyrrha had activated her Maiden powers and taken on Cinder Fall. The two halves of the Fall Maiden clashed in battle above him. He shook his head trying to clear his vision. He'd been knocked out after taking a heavy hit from Cinder. Through blurred vision, he could see the other Hunters they'd recruited defending Team RWBY from the onslaught of White Fang and Cinder's minions. Ozcar Pin was holding off the strange man with the mustache and protecting the now prone Headmaster Lionheart. Jaune was essentially alone on the battlefront. Pyrrha skidded to a halt next to him.

"Jaune! Stay down! You're hurt. I've got this.", she said before leaping back into the air and aiming her sword at Cinder, hurling it forth with the amplified powers of Fall.

Maiden versus Maiden, interlocked in celestial combat, Cinder conjured weapons made of glass and launched them at the Spartan. Pyrrha blocking her attacks easily with her shield and retaliating with a blast of lightning and a hurled sword. The Spartan dove and landed a kick into Cinder's chest, knocking the woman away. Pyrrha backflipped through the air against the kick and catapulted back for another attack, her sword retrieved with the amplified Semblance.

Cinder was running out of power and Aura, she ran from the Spartan for now, taking cover and dodge-rolling out of the way of the hurled weapon. She was acutely aware of how much more powerful Pyrrha had become and she could sense the other more dominant half of the Maiden trying to leech her own powers away. A bullet ripped through her Grimm arm, the wound healing almost instantly. She turned and aimed her bow towards her assailant.

Jaune managed to reach one of his guns, the antique pistol, _Unforgiven,_ Pyrrha had gifted him, and fired off a shot towards Cinder, who was hiding behind a support pillar. The first and second shots missed, but the third and final last remaining bullet hit. And soon he stared at the glass arrow aimed towards him. In a last ditch effort, he pitched the weapon at the opposing Maiden, the gun landing pathetically several feet from his target.

"Absolutely pathetic...", Cinder mocked.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha exclaimed realizing what was about to happen.

Cinder heard the Spartan's cry and re-aimed. Then she fired.

The arrow hit Pyrrha as she dove towards Jaune in an attempt to save him. It hit her just above her gorget, the most important armor she had. It embedded itself in her throat, lodging itself at an angle bypassing her armor. The red-haired gladiator spiraled to the ground in a heap. Her hands went to her throat, feeling the arrow and its placement. She tried to call out, but couldn't. Her hands were wet with the lifeblood that she vitally needed. She choked in wracking convulsions as she realized what had just happened. Her Maiden powers faltered and flickered out as she collapsed. Helplessly, she looked towards Jaune and outstretched a hand to him in pain and panic. Her vision was beginning to darken, as the world began to fade away in front of her.

Jaune watched in abject horror. He watched Pyrrha take the hit, he watched her fall, and he saw her _fate_. An outstretched hand of a lover awaiting an embrace that would never come. A future that would never happen. A thousand strands of infinite possibilities. _Destiny_.

"Pyrrha!", he screamed as he launched his open hand towards hers as she died alone without anyone to hold her hand in her last moments.

**Hoo boy. End of Chapter. R. **


	21. The Black Well

XXXXX

Chapter 20: The Black Well

XXXXX

Jaune's vision became clouded and distorted. The edges of his eyesight seemed to melt into a hazy smoke and time stood still for a moment. Colors faded into paler shades. He looked around and saw Nora in mid swing with her hammer. Ren's gunfire hung in the air. A burst of rose petals frozen in midair against a White Fang member. Time had stopped. _"I don't want this to happen. It can't end like this._" Jaune thought. The frozen scene changed as small fractures began to overlay over his vision like cracks in a mirror. He watched a his friends and foes begin to fight in reverse, gunfire returning to the guns, a hammer pulling backwards. It all seemed to blur together after a few moments. Somewhere within the blur he saw Pyrrha's face, her eyes full of tears as she knelt weakly. _Do you believe in Destiny?_ She said before her body disintegrated into dust on the wind. "_No... I don't._", Jaune thought as the blurry premonition faded. His vision darkened as he nearly blacked out.

Shaking his head to clear his vision again, Jaune watched as Pyrrha backflipped over his head, landing a powerful kick to Cinder and propelled herself backwards retrieving her sword with her Semblance. He'd seen this already. This already happened. He reached to his left and felt the antique pistol he'd gotten as a gift. This was weird. He'd watched Pyrrha die. But now he hadn't, he'd seen a possible future? Jaune grunted and aimed the pistol towards where Cinder was hiding. He knew his first few shots were going to miss, so he aimed for her arm instead.

Cinder Fall stumbled, she'd just gotten to cover as a bullet ripped through her shoulder leaving a grisly exit wound and crippling her human arm. She cried out and fell backwards in agony. Her Grimm arm was exposed and she thrashed outwards with it blindly. Another bullet slammed into her side. Cinder Fall fell to the ground in pain and confusion. Where did those shots come from? A third shot hit the pillar she hid behind and launched shrapnel into her. She felt the last few ounces of Maiden power absorbed by the Spartan, who now hovered over her smugly as a sword violently plunged through her chest. Cinder's vision darkened as she blacked out.

Pyrrha absorbed the remainder of the stolen Maiden powers. The two halves of the Fall Maiden merged and surged through her. She felt godlike. Her eyes flared, the flame-like aura becoming stronger. She turned to the mustachioed man and outstretched a hand, letting off a blast of pure energy and slamming the man in the chest launching him out of the academy. She turned to her teammates, Nora and Ren and amplified their weapons with her now fully charged Semblance. Ren's bullets curved towards their targets and Nora's hammer slammed into her targets at mach speeds and launched the White Fang out of the academy and off the cliff side entirely. She stared at the now cowering in fear White Fang and let off a burst of chain-lightning, electrocuting the invading group into unconsciousness. She slowly descended from where she hovered and landed next to Jaune.

"Jaune! We're safe now. They're... They're all gone. And I... I am the Fall Maiden.", she said.

"I know. I watched it happen... I made it happen...", Jaune stuttered. "I'm just glad you're... Still alive."

"Of course, Jaune! I... we... We all are. We won.", Pyrrha noted.

"The battle isn't over, Pyrrha. The White Fang are still outside... Cinder is done and her minions are toast. Let's finish off the rest of these savages.", Jaune said.

Pyrrha still seemed like regular awkward Pyrrha, the full power of the Fall Maiden didn't seem to change her too much. Jaune thought about what had just happened in the last few minutes. Pyrrha died, then he stopped time. Then... He was back where he was when he'd woken up after being hit. Had he traveled through time? Lost in thought for a moment, he just followed Pyrrha out into the courtyards as the battle raged onward.

Outside, Adam Taurus raged. His loyal White Fang followers were running away!

"You have no honor! Get back here and fight! There's no honor in fleeing!", Adam screamed.

"There is if you survive to fight another day. There's no point in dying here for _this_ one's ideals and motives.", Pyrrha noted as she hovered above Adam, Fall Maiden mode fully activated.

"Stand down, Adam. You've lost! These people aren't going to throw their lives away for your false paradise!", Blake called.

"Stand down? You want me to surrender? Never! All of you... Even the cowards among my own ranks. All of you will feel my vengeance!", Adam raged as he pulled the demolition detonator out of his jacket and pressed the button.

Blake's eyes widened as he hit the big red button of death. She ran at him for a moment before the shockwave hit her and reduced her into a lifeless hairball shaped like a person.

"Blake!", Ruby cried as she watched her friend fall. She tried to use her Semblance, but the demolition charges on the CCT tower cut her off, collapsing the building onto her and Ren. Ren crawled out of the ruins, Nora unconscious beside him and Ruby nowhere to be seen. A scrap of cloth beneath several tons of debris revealed Ruby's fate.

"Nora... I'm sorry.", Ren coughed before the next charge sent him to Valhalla alongside his beloved childhood friend.

Weiss and Yang were knocked off their feet from the first shockwave blast. Weiss conjuring her Semblance and freezing Yang to the only secure ground as the platform she stood upon began to fracture. "Yang. Remember... Remember who I was. How I loved and how I lived...", Weiss said as the cliffside gave way under her feet and left the blond-haired fighter alone.

"No! Weiss! Ruby! Oh... Oh gods no...", Yang uttered before the final demolition charge rocked the mountain top Academy and sent Yang to meet her sister.

Back inside the main hall, Ozpin and Oscar Pine separated as the tremors cracked the building like an egg. "I'm truly sorry, Oscar. We did as we thought was best.", Ozpin apologized as Oscar and the entire building was blown into a billion fragments of lifeless ash.

As Haven Academy fell to ruins, the _Tranquility_ attempted to escape. The final blast wave hit the tail of the ship and knocked its power core loose. Without flight, the ship crashed into the lower levels of Mistral City exploding on impact and destroying the once-thriving marketplace.

Pyrrha swept downwards and grabbed onto Jaune. As the sole remaining members of their Team, she knew she had to get them out of there. Using her Maiden abilities she took to the skies, dodging falling debris that was once the Academy.

"It's going to be okay, Jaune. It's... not okay. We... Everyone else is...", Pyrrha began to sob.

Jaune looked back on the school as it crumbled into dust, the bodies of his friends and teammates somewhere down in the rubble. _This isn't happening._ He thought. _It's a possible future. _He thought. _I can change it_.

Jaune reached out again and felt his vision blur again. Time froze. The blast wave that nipped upon Pyrrha's heels halted in mid air. The cracks in his vision came again, shearing across everything he saw like fractured glass. Another vision clouded his mind, this time he was alone in the woods with his Scroll. He had new armor and weapons made from the remnants of Pyrrha's. He could see her face on the spectral Scroll. Just a memory of a time that never was. He felt sad for reasons he didn't know. A vision of a world without his beloved. Tears filled his eyes as the world began to blur again, his vision becoming narrower and the destruction of his team and Haven fading away.

XXXXX

"Stand down? You want me to surrender!?", the angry Faunus raged. Jaune had seen this already. His hand was already on The _Unforgiven_.

Blake's eyes widened as Adam pulled the demolition charge detonator out. And then Adam didn't have a hand anymore. It was gone in a puff of pink mist. The bullish Faunus just stood in shock for a moment. The detonator rolled onto the ground in front of Blake, she picked it up gently and turned to her savior; a blond-haired gunslinger.

"Hohohoho... Holy crap! Did you see his hand? It was like PBBLLT!", Jaune mocked. He was actually surprised he'd made the shot. It turned out he had an extra bullet in the sixth chamber of the _Unforgiven_.

"Pyrrha. Let's kill this savage!", Jaune announced.

"No. He's down, Jaune. He can't fight back.", Pyrrha said as she knelt down next to the now screaming and very afraid Adam Taurus. She conjured a flame in the palm of her hand and cauterized his wound. Adam Taurus would live for now.

The _Tranquility_ and another airship with a diving Nevermore painted on it descended from the sky alongside several Mistral police airships. Spotlights lit up the ground and the surrendering White Fang members dropped their weapons.

"This is Captain Reynolds of the _Tranquility_. Drop you weapons, you are under arrest.", a speaker on board the Dragonfly-class ship announced.

"And this is Captain Hanz Ohlo of the _Centennial Eagle_. You are surrounded. Do not make any sudden moves!", the other ship announced.

As the Mistral Police Force landed and began to apprehend the White Fang members, Adam Taurus raged. He was frozen to the ground by one of Weiss' glyphs and had his hands tied behind his back by Blake, who was strangely skilled with rope.

"You! I'm coming for all of you! I'll be back! I'll get you all and your little friends too! I'll- Agagagagagaggggghhhh...", Adam swore before being tazed by Nolan Porfirio, who had joined up with Mistral's security team after the Fall of Beacon.

"Hey. That's all of them then. We've got the green-haired girl we pulled out of the septic tank, the burned guy with metal feet, the big guy we had to muzzle... Uhh... Adam Taurus... Doctor Watts, the Atlas Doctor arrested for malpractice and illegal plastic surgery... And all of the White Fang members we could find alive.", Captain Reynolds noted.

"You're missing one. The wacky mid-life crisis girl who looks like she decided to apply her makeup with a chainsaw.", Jaune added. "She went by 'Cinder Fall' and looks like she'd complain to your manager. She probably had a bunch of gunshot wounds too, but I don't know where those would've come from."

"Gunshot wounds? Didn't find anyone matching her description, but we did find a significant blood trail leading to the statue in the main hall... We also found a bunch of feathers too...", Reynolds noted.

"Jaune...?", Pyrrha asked.

"Oh... Oh man... This is going to suuuuuck!", Jaune noted.

XXXXX

Cinder Fall limped down the stairs towards the Vault. She was so close now! She could feel it. A stone bridge, and large gate and an even larger tree stood in front of her. A huge golden door beckoned her. She limped towards it. She cursed Pyrrha's name and that idiot she carried. Jack or whatever his name was. She was healing, not quite the way she used to, but with Salem's gift she knew she'd be even stronger than a Maiden in time. Her Grimm fusion was spreading its taint through her broken body. Cinder was nearly halfway across the bridge when a cloud of feathers blew into her face.

"Hmf. Not much of a Maiden anymore are you?", a cold voice called.

"You! How did you get down here!", Cinder raged.

"I have my ways. Besides, I'm curious what's so important down here that Ozpin and his lackeys would build an entire school over it and fill it with Huntsmen.", Raven said.

"I'll kill you! You caused this!", Cinder screamed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. _I_ caused this? How? Not helping you with your problems? Exactly whose side do you think I'm on?", Raven asked as she walked towards the weakened Cinder.

"You're with him. You're working with Ozpin!", Cinder said.

"Nope. I work for me. Not Oz and not Salem.", Raven said.

"What? That's insane! What do you think you could possibly do with the artifact!?", Cinder ranted.

"Nothing? It might fetch a pretty penny on the Black Market, though.", Raven said apathetically.

"You're mad! This is madness!", Cinder cried.

"Madness? This is _Destiny!"_, Raven shouted as she kicked Cinder off the bridge. The former Fall Maiden's eyes widened as she fell off and downwards into the blackness below.

Raven stared over the edge as Cinder fell out of sight. She leaned over the edge and spat a wad of phlegm at her foe. Cinder was going to have a nice little gift after she landed. Raven just turned and walked over to the golden gateway. She touched the door calmly and waited for a moment.

Within a few moments, the door opened, mechanical gears whirred and beheld a vision of a desert. Raven walked through the portal and towards the glowing object in the distance. She reached the object and stared at it in confusion.

"Aww, really? It's one of _these_? Seriously? And I'm all out of Menagerie catnip too...", Raven complained as she picked up the Relic of Knowledge. She really had no idea what it was.

XXXXX

A Few Days Later...

XXXXX

"And in other news, Leonardo Lionheart prevented Haven from falling to the same fate as Beacon. The courageous headmaster hired an elite team of Huntsmen that were able to defend the Academy. He is to be commended for his bravery and a statue in his honor is to be built inside the new Haven Academy Main Hall...", Lisa Lavender noted.

Team JNPR, RWBY, MRJJ along with Qrow and Ozcar just listened to the news in mild shock and disbelief.

"Give me a break. This wouldn't have even happened if he wasn't selling us out!", Qrow said between shots of alcohol.

"He did come to his senses, though.", Ozcar noted.

"Godammit! We didn't even get any credit for that!", Rhames yelled.

"We still saved the day!", Javelin said.

"Yeah, but not without casualties. A lot of Faunus died and Cinder escaped.", Blake noted.

"You still proved to everyone that the White Fang is the worst and not all Faunus follow their examples. You and Ilia even got medals for disarming the demolition charges!", Yang said.

"We wouldn't even be here right now if Jaune hadn't... err... incapacitated Adam Taurus first.", Blake noted.

"Yep! Just all in a day's work!", Jaune said.

"I still don't know how you managed to do that so fast. He was going to press the button and then you just shot his hand off. Like you _knew_ what he was going to do...", Pyrrha added.

"I have good reflexes. Besides, that's what he was planning right? Total Party Kill.", Jaune explained.

"I'm just so glad everyone is okay. Nothing bad happened today. Nobody we know died. And We saved Haven!", Ruby exclaimed.

"Well, we didn't find the Spring Maiden, we didn't secure the Relic, and we didn't really do much other than fight off the bad guys.", Qrow noted.

"It's still a victory in my books.", Yang said.

The friendly conversation was interrupted by Clarkson McDiarmid and Team VRML entering the house.

"Qrow. You're needed in Atlas immediately. I suggest you gather up your students and head to Argus. We can get you all safely through the barricade.", Clarkson stated.

"What? Why?", Qrow asked.

"You don't need to know that. You just need to get there as soon as possible. Maybe if you didn't drink so much you'd understand.", Liana added.

"Oscar, what do you think?", Qrow asked.

"They are correct. Given what has happened here, we need to move onto the next possible target and secure the Relic. Atlas is the closest.", Ozcar said.

"Ugh. Fine." Qrow concluded.

Qrow, Ozcar and VRML left the room to talk a bit more about their 'secret mission'. The Teams left to relax for a bit in their own rooms. A few moments passed and Rhames suddenly burst into Team RWBY's room.

"Hey! Uhh... Yang... By the way, I guess we're half siblings. It's great to meet you...", He said awkwardly.

"What?", Yang asked.

"Well, you probably heard me back in the battle right? I'm a Branwen... You're also a Branwen... We're... siblings?", Rhames said.

"You know what. I'm just going to blame our mother for this.", Yang said.

"Oh hey. Speaking of mom, she sent us a gift. It's addressed to both of us. There's a note here.", Rhames said as he handed a paper card to Yang.

"Dearest Yang and Rhames. I've sent you this as a gift. Please share it, I have no use for it. Do not overuse it. If you don't know where to get _pipeweed_ ask your friend Blake. With love, Raven Branwen.", the note read.

Rhames and Yang opened the nicely wrapped box slowly. Raven sent them a hookah? Great, what a loving mother. Rhames pulled the object out slowly. It was a blue lantern-like object with gold accents all over it. It glowed faintly.

"Uhh... This isn't... _That_.", Yang noted.

"Oh yeah. I don't even know if we can use it like that. It's sorta neat looking.", Rhames said as he turned the object in his hands.

"Where did this even come from?", Yang asked nobody in particular.

"That's not a hookah, Yang. I don't know what that is.", Blake added.

"Maybe Qrow knows what it is. He's... _that_ sort of guy.", Ruby said.

A few moments later, Yang approached Qrow alongside Rhames.

"Oh hey, I guess you're my Uncle. I'm Rhames.", Rhames said.

"Uh, yeah. I know who you are. Uhh... Welcome to the family?", Qrow slurred.

"Hey, Uncle. Do you know how to use this?", Yang asked as she shoved the blue lamp into his arms.

"Oh! Oh yeah... You just... Put the... Hm... Oh. I guess it's not...", Qrow trailed off.

"That. That is the Relic of Knowledge. How did you manage to retrieve it?", Ozcar stated from across the room.

"The Relic of Knowledge is a hookah? How the hell do we use it? What kind of _pipeweed_ helps you know things!?", Rhames asked.

"Uhh... Our mother sent it to us? As a gift?", Yang said.

"That's highly unlikely. But, if she knew the Spring Maiden as Qrow has told me, then perhaps she was able to retrieve it. An odd gift, however.", Ozcar noted.

"So what does it do?", Yang asked.

"Nothing right now. It will answer 3 questions every hundred years. We must keep it safe.", Ozcar said.

"Okaaay!", Rhames concluded as he shoved the Relic into his bags nonchalantly.

Ozcar and Qrow stared at Rhames. Qrow was a little less surprised to know he had yet another nephew... For real this time.

"Right. Well, I suppose that works. You _will _need to come with us though. I can assure you, you will be paid triple if you accompany us.", Ozcar noted.

"Nah, that's fine. I'll do it for what we agreed upon originally. It's nice to finally meet my family after all these years.", Rhames said.

"Right. Very well. Team VRML has acquired train tickets for us. We will head to Argus in a few days. I suggest you prepare.", Ozcar said.

Team RWBY prepared to leave. They packed their belongings. It would be a long trip to Argus, the norther nor north northernmost part of Mistral. Yang felt uneasy. How many other siblings did she have? 'Any port in a storm' is what Raven has said about Taiyang. And it seemed that both her parents insisted on staying 'busy'. Blake felt oddly content for now. Sun and Ilia were out shopping, but perhaps they'd join her too on her mission with her three best friends. Sun was odd, Ilia she'd known forever. She hoped her new and old friends would stick around. Weiss didn't want to go back to Atlas. She'd left specifically to avoid Atlas. Now she was going back. At least her father was soon to be divorced. Maybe she could become the heiress again. She also wanted her dear brother Shitley to suffer. Ruby was just shocked at everything that had happened. She ate her cookies in silence. Yang had a brother, Raven was a Maiden, what else was going on? She just hoped everything would be explained.

Across the hall, Team JNPR packed their bags. Rhames had said to start packing as Argus was just a few days away. Ren and Nora had stayed close to each-other. The combat from the past few days solidifying their relationship. Nora had an uncle and only living family member and Ren was determined to show him that he was worthy of his praise. The stoic boy seemed even more precise in his daily routines than usual. Pyrrha and Jaune packed their belongings as well on the other side of the room. Jaune was deep in thought for some reason.

"Pyrrha? I think I found out what my Semblance does.", Jaune said.

"Oh? What does it do?", Pyrrha asked.

"I can... I can rewind time. I think. I don't know. It's weird.", Jaune said.

"What? Are you certain? I've never heard of that power before... Why do you think that?", Pyrrha asked in surprise.

"Well... I... Back in the academy. When you were fighting Cinder... I watched you die. I saw it. It was horrible. I didn't want that. I don't want that to happen. Ever. And... I outstretched my hand... and then I was back a few moments.", Jaune said.

"I... I died?", Pyrrha asked.

"You did. I can't live without you, Pyrrha. I can't. Even if it was supposed to be your _destiny_ to die a martyr. I missed a bunch of shots with _Unforgiven_. Then I was back and I made those shots count. I changed _fate._", Jaune stated.

"You... Jaune can you really do this?", Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know. I know I did it again after you stabbed Cinder. Adam Taurus blew up the school. I watched _everyone_ die except us. And I changed it again.", Jaune added.

"Jaune. If you're telling me the truth... Tell me what's about to happen in the next few seconds.", Pyrrha said.

"Well, Ren is going to drop Storm Flower and it's going to misfire. Nora is going to scream and slap him. Then Rhames is going to bust in a tell us he's coming with us because we're funny.", Jaune said.

"That sounds insane.", Pyrrha stated.

As Pyrrha said that, Ren fumbled as he packed his bags and dropped Storm Flower, the gun firing a stray shot into the ceiling. Nora panicked and slapped Ren across the face. As the gunshot rang out, their room door burst open.

"Hey guys. I had a lot of fun fighting with you. I think I'm going to stick around. Can't say the same for my teammates, but I'm with you. You're a funny bunch.", Rhames said before he closed the door again.

"Jaune... I just got tingles down my neck. This... This is unbelievable.", Pyrrha said.

"Look, I don't know how it works or how far I can go back. I get a helluva headache afterwards. Don't count on me to save you, Pyr. I don't know if I can.", Jaune said.

"You can, Jaune. You just need to trust yourself.", Pyrrha said. "Jaune, we're going to Argus. My family is there. I want you to meet them. If the news reports from before are right... They'll be _really_ surprised to see me."

"Oh yeah. I get that. Back from the dead. The Immortal Girl, Pyrrha Nikos.", Jaune said.

"Oh, and don't even think of using your Semblance on me for strange. I'll know.", Pyrrha concluded.

"Oh I won't even dream of it.", Jaune said.

And with that note, Team JNPR and RWBY got ready for the long journey ahead. It had been a stressful few months. Beacon had fallen. Haven almost fell. Cinder was gone and her minions incarcerated. The White Fang disbanded and Adam Taurus in a padded cell. It had been about 15 months since their first days back in Beacon or five seasons. They were ready for whatever the future brought them.

**End of Chapter. Hurrah. Life is Strange isn't it. Achievements were made by heroic Huntsmen. Some days even the Stars wage Wars against you. This is not Serenity. This isn't a Game. There are Thrones that need a king. The Three Hundred brave Faunus fought well. And now our Huntsmen are headed towards the Border between the Lands.**


	22. Argus Limited Slip Differential

XXXXX

Chapter 21: Argus Limited Slip Differential

XXXXX

The early morning sunlight shined through the Mistral Train station. Team RWBY had run off to grab some snacks before they boarded. Team MRJJ stood near the platform and didn't argue with each-other for once. Team JNPR sat quietly at a table in the food court of the station. Jaune was annoyed.

"Why can't we just take one of those airships? There were _two_ of them at the battle!", Jaune complained.

"They're too busy working with the police. They're still trying to find White Fang members; a lot of them ran off when Blake began attacking.", Ren noted.

"Yeah... And Besides, that other captain, Hanz Ohlo, said he was banned from Argus. Something about cashews and a shrew or something.", Nora said.

"Ehh fine. Once we're back in Atlas, I'm stealing an airship from _Hyperion._ I'm tired of walking everywhere.", Jaune said.

Across the room, Team MRJJ was a little surprised. Rhames was joining Team RWBY and heading to Atlas with them.

"Wait. You're leaving?", Minstrel asked incredulously.

"Yep. Sorry guys, I just met my long lost family and I want to know a little more about them.", Rhames said.

"But... You're descended from royalty! You told us back at Shade Academy you were the heir to the Violet Crown!", Javelin noted.

"I am... Sorta... Mad King Arden Greyblood isn't really... Royalty... He does have a castle though, _Scaena Quintus_.", Rhames noted.

"Isn't that better than getting to know your other half is a group of bandits!?", Minstrel added.

"Ehh, not really. My father usurped the Kingdom of the Violet Crown. He's not exactly a nice guy... Bandits seem friendlier for some reason.", Rhames said.

"And that's not just because you want to add onto your collection of bandit ears either, right?", Jonk noted.

"No! I like her ears. Not like that, but...", Rhames trailed off.

"Well, good luck Rhames. We'll miss you!", Javelin said, waving goodbye to the larger man.

"Yeah, we'll miss you. Please don't kill your extended family.", Minstrel noted.

"Rhames, just do what I would do.", Jonk said.

Rhames departed and went to find Yang and Qrow. He had so many questions for them. And they probably had a lot for him. Specifically regarding the signet ring he wore and what exactly it did to him during the battle.

A little ways farther from the rest of her Team, Blake, Ilia and Sun walked around the station. They took in the sights and visited some of the gift shops run by more of the identical twin shopkeepers.

"Ilia, you're not coming with us?", Blake asked.

"Sorry, Blake. I can't. Your parents asked me to return to Menagerie. I'm going to help them reform the White Fang into a new peaceful resistance. A lot of the Fang members we captured actively opposed Adam Taurus and his regime, they were just too afraid to say anything.", Ilia said.

"That's... That's respectable, Ilia. I wish you well.", Blake said.

"I hope it goes well, Blake. I was think of calling them the KnightShade in honor of you. I'll miss you.", Ilia said as she too departed, her own train was leaving in a few moments. She stopped for a moment and returned quickly, giving Blake a kiss before boarding her train.

"Now that we're alone...", Sun said.

"Don't even think about it, Sun.", Blake said.

"Awe, Come on! I deserve a little more than just friendship!", Sun cried.

"Sun, there is a time and place for that... I still don't know what I'm doing.", Blake said.

"Hey, I think we made a great team back there. We kicked those White Fang goons right in the balls!", Sun exclaimed.

"We did. I couldn't have done it without you, though. You pulled me out of whatever funk I was in. I can't believe I was just going to try to go and hide from my problems like that.", Blake noted.

"All the more reason for me to stick around! I'll be your voice of reason, Blake. Whenever you feel down, your favorite monkey-man will be there right next to you. I'll be the sun to light your way.", Sun replied.

"Well. Thanks. Thank you Sun.", Blake concluded. She was a little apprehensive about Sun tagging along. He was still playing the fool most of the time, but his words of wisdom back in Menagerie rang true to her. She shouldn't try to push her friends away in times of need. And she still thought she needed Sun, even if it was just for emotional support. He gave her another voice to talk to that wasn't one of her Teammates she'd shared her life with.

"I cannot believe we're going _back_ to Atlas. I spent ages just trying to _leave_ that place!", Weiss noted as she and the rest of her Team headed towards the platform.

"Aww why? At least we'll be able to stay in Argus for a while. I heard it's beautiful! The great northern coastline!", Nora said as she overheard Weiss' complaining.

"Argus is very nice. I spent most of my life there.", Pyrrha noted as she and Jaune rejoined the two teams of Huntsmen.

"Yes, Argus is. Atlas is a scummy boozehole filled with rich elitists and dirty lowlifes. Their national drink is _vodka_!", Weiss exclaimed.

"Aww. I know you're worried, but you'll have all of your friends with you this time. We'll be there for you!", Ruby added.

"Nobody's gotta be worried when we're around!", a male voice said. It sounded familiar.

"Oh my sweet stars. Cardin!?", Pyrrha said as Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush walked over to them.

"Pyrrha!? Jaune! Oh hey, guys!", Cardin said as he recognized his fellow former Beacon friends.

"What? How! How did you get here? What are you doing!?", Jaune asked in surprise.

"Oh. After the Battle of Beacon, I joined up with the Constructor's Union to rebuild Vale. It didn't go well. No offense to Faunus, but Professor Peach's Faunus boyfriend started a lot of trouble. That turtle is out of control. Then I left and came here. I was going to attend Haven, but the school was closed for plumbing repairs. I work security on the Argus Limited.", Cardin explained.

"Well, I'm glad you made it out of Vale safely.", Pyrrha said.

"And I'm glad those news reports were wrong. Uhh, hey... You should probably stay out of the park in Argus. Just... Just saying...", Cardin noted.

"What do you mean?", Pyrrha said as she crossed her arms.

"Well if you want to see... Don't say I didn't warn you.", Cardin said.

Cardin and Russel walked off and boarded the caboose of the train. Team RWBY and JNPR just stared at each-other for a moment.

"We still have to wait for Yang and Qrow.", Ruby said.

"What are they up to anyways?", Nora asked.

"Umm... Family reunion?", Ruby said.

Qrow watched Ruby and the other teams from a distance. He was standing beside Ozcar and still trying to come to terms that, yes, he did actually have another nephew.

"...And what does the ring do? You turned into a Maiden back there.", Yang asked.

"It was a gift from my mother... Your- Our mother. She got it from my father when I was born.", Rhames stated.

"Little boy Ozpin. Mind explaining this? I think you might know something...", Yang said.

"Err yes. Well, I did use a little bit more magic on a very specific ring some time ago. You see, there was a king in Vacuo who had wanted to become my protector. I gifted him a ring that would allow him to use copies of his Ancestral King's own weapons whenever he chose... I did not expect that king to be overthrown during the Great War...", Ozcar noted.

"So you lied again. You gave away more magic powers to another person.", Yang said.

"Not on a person... On a ring. Perhaps I should have imbued the magic on the gemstone instead of the band, though. It appears to have been modified since I last saw it.", Ozcar said.

"What does it do, really? Rhames already has access to a whole closet of weapons. Whatever that was, wasn't caused by just the ring.", Yang said.

"Well, in short. It gives the wearer partial abilities of the Maidens. I was hoping that the fallen king would've used its power to protect his kingdom. It appears that he did not and the ring fell into the Greyblood family's hands.", Ozcar noted.

"Well, that's just great. What if someone else got it? What if Salem got it? What if some other more evil asshole got it? How screwed would the world have been then?", Yang cursed.

"Well... Nothing bad would have happened. It would only work if the wearer was related to the original owner. The usurper unfortunately was the fallen king's own brother, a bastard, but a brother nonetheless.", Ozcar said.

"At least there's some hope for this world...", Yang said in exasperation.

"Look, he's not called the 'Mad King' for nothing. My father is an evil man. I'm not. But, he is.", Rhames said.

Yang just stared at her new brother. Rhames looked like a younger and much more built version of Qrow. Red eyes and dark hair. Anger just like she had. It was uncanny.

"I don't even want to know. Let's just get moving.", Yang said.

Yang walked away from her new messed up family. At least she still had Ruby. Ruby was nice and her side was probably not as messed up as... _this_ side of her family. Oh well. Argus was just a few days away, it would give them all time to relax before their next mission began.

XXXXX

In a very unhappy purple land an airship departed only to be attacked by Nevermores and destroyed. In a very unhappy purple boardroom, several unhappy people sat in bandages around the large table. A very unhappy person scolded all of them. A large reptilian creature at beside its master gleefully.

"Okay... Tell me, one at a time, how exactly you got into this... Predicament.", Salem said calmly.

"The White Fang refused our proposal. Roman Torchwick brought aid instead. We were overrun by a Faunus Resistance.", Hazel said.

"Okay... Moody Boy and Green-haired Girl. Anything to add?", Salem said.

Emerald's hair stuck up at odd angles and she was covered in dirt for some reason.

"We failed to gain Adam Taurus' support. We failed to take Haven. We just... Failed.", Emerald said. She just wanted this to be over in any way possible. She chose her words carefully for the next set of questions, it really didn't matter though, her remaining time in this world was going to very brief and very painful.

"We wouldn't have failed unless Hazel didn't go full pacifist. He was told to use force and he refused.", Mercury added.

"Hm. Hazel, is this true?", Salem asked.

"I take full responsibility for the failure to recruit the White Fang.", Hazel noted.

Salem pointed at Hazel. In an instant, the new Faunus was on top of the large man, huge scaly fists raining down onto him and battering his body.

"Grimm:Lock Smash!", the Faunus raged as he smashed Hazel over and over were broken and blood flowed freely.

"Okay... Stop. Let him live.", Salem commanded. Grimm:Lock stopped beating Hazel. Hazel was covered in wounds and unconscious. "Why did we fail to take Haven?"

"We didn't have the full support of the informant. The Informant switched sides halfway through the battle. He is... Still alive.", Emerald noted.

"Yes, I'm aware that he is still alive. He's a coward and nobody takes him seriously anyways, he's not threat. Perhaps you could explain why he wasn't taken out as soon as his betrayal was discovered?", Salem asked.

"Well, he wasn't a threat now was he? I didn't think it was worth my time to kill worms like him!", Watts noted.

"Watts failed to command the way that Cinder did. He was too soft and failed to intimidate the informant enough.", Emerald noted.

In another blink of an eye, the Faunus was on top of Watts, beating the mustachioed man to a pulp. Grimm:Lock stopped his beating when the only unbroken bones were Watts' skull, spine and ribcage.

"And what in the world happened to dear Cinder?", Salem asked.

"She was killed. She was defeated by the Huntsmen we told you about and then the other half of the Fall Maiden took her powers back.", Emerald noted.

"Why was that?", Salem asked.

"We didn't have enough information. We didn't have enough support. We were outnumbered. Cinder failed to kill the Fall Maiden in Vale. We did what we could in the situation.", Emerald said.

"Oh. Well then. You've all failed me. You all deserve the _punishment_ that you have brought upon yourselves. I had explicit orders: Do. Not. Fail. Me... I suppose I need some new minions. Someone I can trust to get the job done. Grimm:Lock, Smash.", Salem commanded.

Grimm:Lock just stood over Emerald and grabbed her head in his hand. "Grimm:Lock squish!", the Faunus said as he raged and began to squeeze Emerald's skull in his massive hand. The end was coming for poor Emerald, a very painful end.

"No! No please! I didn't have anything to do with their failure! We're just the minions. We just follow orders. Please... No...", Emerald pleaded as her death approached.

Mercury attempted to fight off the reptilian Faunus. He received a spiky barbed tail to the chest and was sent flying across the room. "No! Let her go!", he cried.

"Hm. Okay.", Salem said.

Grimm:Lock dropped Emerald, the green-haired girl feeling for her own head to make sure it was still firmly attached. It was.

"Well, then. You are correct. You do follow orders. Even if those orders are given by incompetent leaders. How would you like to lead instead of follow?", Salem asked.

"I... I would. I will.", Emerald said hesitantly.

"Good. Take over where these two imbeciles failed. Find Cinder if she's still alive and do whatever you want with her; she already failed me twice. Maybe make a nice rug out of her skin or something, I don't care. Find the Huntsmen that did this and kill them. Find the Fall Maiden, the Spring Maiden and all the other Maidens and take their powers if you can. Take moody-boy with you.", Salem stated.

"Uhm. I'm Emerald and he's Mercury.", Emerald said.

"That's what I said, right? Sapphire and Gallium, whatever, just don't fail me. I'm going to send Grimm:Lock with you. He's been given instructions that if you do fail me, he's going make smoothies with you. It'll be fun. The smoothies are made out of your _entrails_, of course." Salem concluded.

"Grimm:lock hungry for munchies! Green girly taste good!", Grimm:Lock said as he licked Emerald's face with his uncomfortably long lizard tongue.

"W-What about them?", Emerald asked as she pointed to Watts and Hazel on the ground.

"Oh don't worry about them. They have a new job. If you succeed and come back here, I'm sure you're going to love the new _decorations_.", Salem said coldly.

Emerald shuddered. She had no choice but to do exactly what Salem said. Well, she did have another choice: she could decide to become a protein smoothie, but that was counter-productive at the moment. She just grabbed Mercury and hauled him out of the room. The massive 9ft tall reptile Faunus followed them. _No room for failure. Plenty of room in that thing's belly._ Emerald thought as she left. She could feel Salem's gaze piercing into her soul as the doors shut behind her.

Now left alone again, Salem dialed a number on her Spooky-Phone. Hazel and Watts groaned from the floor.

"Now, for your punishment! What will I do with you. Hmmm... Oh I know! Oobleck Eats is hiring. You're going to absolutely enjoy working for them. Bring me back all the money and tips you make. You get paid nothing for failure. And be grateful... You're alive for now.", Salem said as she had some Grimm remove the two from the room. Hazel and Watts groaned louder. After her two unreliable minions had been removed, she turned back to the spooky-phone.

"Oh Hello? I have some friends who want to work for you. That's great really. Yes, I'll take the free order. I'll have the organic smoothies, I'm just in a mood for some reason. Oh right. My name is... Carmine Sandiego, I'm in the Blighted Crucible and my card number is..."

The Oobleck Eats delivery driver was abducted and given a job offer. The driver didn't refuse when he got there and realized who and what he was dealing with.

XXXXX

In a temple high above Argus, old women in robes ran around frantically. The Soothsayers' scrying pool had cracked again, all of the magical waters leaking out. Several men in suits looked over the ruins of the pool.

"Hm yes. It appears that the crack is... two parts of time and space... two parts that should _never_ have touched...", A younger man said.

"Doctor Where, was does this mean?", an Oracle asked.

"You should ask Doctor Why.", Doctor Where said.

"It's a paradox. Something is here when it shouldn't be. Fate and Destiny have been overridden.", Doctor Why added. "Doctor What, what do you see?"

"I see the original timeline stuck between two others. Perhaps if we reverse the polarity...", Doctor What mused.

A much older woman walked over to the three Doctors. "Polarity... It cannot be reversed. The polarity is confused. It does not want to follow our rules anymore. Dust in the wind, a lone warrior, vengeance and sorrow. All gone.", the Oracle mused.

"What lies beyond?", the younger Oracle asked.

"The end of all things to come..."

XXXXX

The train, The Argus Limited, hurtled down the rails. The two teams of Huntsmen along with their new friends rode along in the rear cars with Cardin Winchester. It had been a long time since any of them had seen anyone from Beacon and it seemed that Cardin had changed. He looked older and had a scraggly beard. His left eye was pure white and a scar traveled through it from his scalp to his chin. His once pristine armor was dented and rusty in various places. He was happily talking to his former classmates.

"Oh yeah. It's been a long strange trip after the fall. I even got married. I'm expecting my first litter in a few months!", Cardin said.

"A litter?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah. I married a Faunus. Her name is Pickles and she's a bulldog Faunus. She's... She's the one that showed me that Faunus are people too. She understood what I went through, that I have my problems, but I shouldn't blame everyone else for them just because I had one bad experience one time.", Cardin explained. "I'm sorry I acted the way I did back at Beacon."

"It's okay, Cardin. Everyone changes. It's good that you learned from your mistakes.", Ruby noted.

"But... You... You hated the Faunus! You thought they were dirty animals!", Blake said.

"I did. And I'm sorry. I got beaten up as a child by Faunus and I just let it get to me. I guess I was just trying to bully them the way they bullied me. It was wrong to do that.", Cardin noted.

"Geez. I really wasn't expecting that from you, Cardin.", Jaune said.

"Hey man, I remember what you did for me back there. You saved my life even if it meant nothing to you. You could've just let me die, but you didn't. We didn't like each-other, but you _still_ saved me. Just gotta do what's right. I know that now.", Cardin mused.

"Well that's you, what happened to the rest of your team?", Pyrrha asked.

"Well, Russ here donates to Faunus in Need anytime he can. The rest of them are back in Vale helping all the displaced people find work and homes. It's what real Huntsmen do. We help those in need.", Cardin noted.

Across the car, Rhames fiddled with the Relic he'd hidden in his bags earlier. It glowed and strangely called to him. He stared at it. In the bright blue light he could make out blurry images. He stared harder at it. It seemed like it was trying to talk to him.

"Whatcha doing?", Yang asked.

Rhames stuffed the Relic back into his bags hastily. "Oh nothing. Just trying to figure out how it works."

"Meh, Qrow doesn't know. Oz said it contains knowledge or something. Maybe someone in Atlas knows how to use it, like General Ironwood.", Yang said. She was warming up to Rhames, he didn't seem like a bad guy.

"Yeah. Maybe he does. Do you have any idea why we're doing this? Are we saving the world or something? Relics and Maidens and Vaults and stuff... That's all the stuff of legends and video games...", Rhames mused.

"Nope. Ozpin has some trick up his sleeve. He's some kind of wizard. All I know is that we need to find the Maidens, open the Vaults and secure the Relics before some evil bitch gets them.", Yang stated.

"So... How do we defeat this evil bitch?", Rhames asked.

"Meh, I dunno. Stab her in the face a lot? It just seems like finding all these Relics will awaken some kind of _Warrior_ or something. It's probably best if we found it first instead of her. Hey, Maybe we can even use it against her!", Yang noted.

Rhames briefly imagined some kind of dragon-like creature breathing lava and annihilating enemies as he and Team MRJJ rode upon its back. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Qrow and Ozcar stood away from the kids for the moment. They sat in a corner, trying to enjoy the small amount of time before they had to disembark. Qrow poured himself more Atlesian Vodka, the train suddenly shook and he spilled some onto the table in front of him.

"That's not good.", Ozcar noted.

"I know! I'm wasting the drink!", Qrow said.

"No... It's...", Oz tried to say but was cut off as the train car rocked again.

"Guys! Incoming Grimm!", Jaune exclaimed.

**Chapter End. Volume 6 begins. Things are going to be out of order from a narrative standpoint. Splitting the party again. **

**So, explanation without too much spoiling the rest of the story. There are at least 5 sets of 'Teams' going in various directions at the moment with their own plotlines. 6 if you count some of the filler characters. This is going to jump around a lot between the bunch of them. Not going to list who's on what team; that would ruin the fun of finding out. Alt-universe Volume 6 is going to be long. I'm not writing alt-universe Volume 7 until it's actually out.**


	23. The Girl Who Tried

XXXXX

Chapter 22: The Girl Who Tried

XXXXX

Scarlet David manned the watchtower in the town of Sanctuary. Another boring day. After the battle of Haven, there wasn't much to do. Raven had gotten in and out of Mistral City without being seen by anyone and had done... something. Recruitment for the resistance had slowed as there wasn't much of a point for it at the moment. It seemed like all of the danger had passed. Scarlet leaned back for a moment and sighed. As he turned back to watching the door, a strange man now stood in front of it. The man wasn't there a minute ago. The man wore a black feathery trench-coat and dark pinstriped slacks. A crimson cravat and silver mantle adorned his neck and shoulders. He wore a rather fancy ruffled black dress shirt and a small trilby with a tiny golden crown sat upon his head covering dark purple hair. The strange man just stared up at Scarlet.

"Halt! Who goes there!?", Scarlet called.

"A man of no consequence... I merely wish to speak with the Queen.", the stranger noted.

"Uhh... I need to know who you are first-", Scarlet said as the man suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the gate in a burst of feathers.

"I'll just be on my way, then. Call me an 'impatient traveler'.", the stranger said as he continued to walk into the town.

Scarlet panicked. This wasn't supposed to happen! He did the only thing he knew how to do and smashed the big red button at the top of the watchtower. He heard the alarms begin to blare in Raven's residence across town.

"Bode!", the alarm cried loudly. Raven stared at it. She didn't hear any gunfire or sounds of an attack. She assumed Scarlet had fallen asleep again and hit the emergency alarm by accident again before switching it off.

"Gyaaahgh!", Doctor Stannis yelped. Raven heard her bizarre doctor downstairs. He wasn't rambling as usual, but seemed a little shocked. The sounds of footsteps ringing up the stairs heralded the arrival of Stannis the man himself.

"He's... He's here.", Dr. Stannis stuttered.

Raven rolled her eyes and headed downstairs. Dr. Stannis never seemed to recognize anyone, and this was a little odd. It wasn't Yang... It probably wasn't Rhames either... Taiyang didn't know where she was... Oh right. Him. Raven headed downstairs, she really didn't have time for her bumbling brother at the moment. Whatever Qrow had to say had to be important if he was willing to come all the way over here to see her in person.

"Ah, and the fairest of all Maidens graces us with her presence!", the strange man called as Raven rounded the corner.

"You!?", Raven said in shock.

"We don't talk quite enough, now do we?", the stranger said.

"Greyblood... I thought you had a kingdom to burn...", Raven noted.

"I get bored easily. And besides, it would seem our _son_ has received his inheritance.", Arden Greyblood said as he showed off seven more rings on his fingers, the black obsidian rings glowed faintly with various crests.

"How do you know that?", Raven asked.

"Oh, I have my ways... 8 rings of power, all linked together. And it happened so soon, too.", Arden noted.

"Too soon.", Raven said.

"And since he has managed to activate them... A bastard of a bastard... It seems like our plan is in motion...And you have a promise to keep.", Arden mused.

"As long as you do what was promised, I'll do what I promised as well. You undoubtedly have the ability to do so now.", Raven said.

"Ah, yes. More great gifts from the Wizard. Longer lifespan, powers beyond your wildest dreams and the ability to go where even _you _can't. What _other _secrets did that old man hide?", Arden mused.

"He hid plenty. I know that. Now... Don't you have somewhere to be?", Raven said.

"Of course. There's a witch who needs a cold shower. I'll be on my way. Just wanted to check in.", Arden said as he left the building. Raven watched as Arden Greyblood left the room. She walked outside to make sure he wasn't harassing anyone. The Mad King had disappeared again just as quick as he'd arrived.

Raven cursed and took a sudden interest in the ground for a moment before jumping into the air and transforming. _Stupid promises. Stupid me. Stupid King. Stupid Ozpin!_ Raven thought as she flew off.

XXXXX

In a dark and dimly lit cavern, a small fire was lit on top of a boulder. Murky waters surrounded the edges of the cave. A tall man and very short woman stood next to the fire.

"...", Neo mused.

"Yes. I know, it was mean. But he wanted to be the 'leader'.", Torchwick said.

"...", Neo said.

"Oh, I know. It was a terrible loss. I'm sure he'll be fine.", Torchwick noted.

The sounds of water sloshing caused the nefarious duo to turn around. They weren't expecting this.

"Oh. So you survived. You look... Great.", Torchwick noted.

Cinder Fall climbed out of the muddy waters. She was more Grimm than human at this point, her Grimm arm now more claw-like and half of her human arm replaced by the same jet-black flesh. The stab wound in the chest she'd received from Pyrrha had healed over and turned into the same white and red bony material that many Grimm had. Two small dark horns protruded from her forehead and her eyes glowed orange in hatred.

Torchwick averted his gaze for a moment taking a second to look at the oddly human-shaped indentation in the cave floor before turning back to Cinder.

"Oh, I was wondering about that... Look like you became the 'Fall' Maiden after all.", He mocked.

"Torch...wick..." Cinder growled, her voice deeper and more animalistic. Cinder Fall had impacted the floor at terminal velocity after her, well, fall from the Vault. With Grimm darkness coursing through her veins, she was no longer completely human and no longer a Maiden; she was something far worse.

XXXXX

On board the Argus Limited, Team RWBY was currently on the roof of the caboose fighting off the Grimm that had begun to attack. Team JNPR had run farther up the train to evacuate people from the rear cars and defend the train engine.

"The turrets aren't working! We need to shut them down, they're making things worse!", Cardin bellowed into his radio.

Cardin swung his mace at the nearest Grimm and knocked it off the roof before turning around and covering Russel. "There's too many of them!"

Qrow and Ruby stood side by side with their scythes out, one swinging in the opposite direction and began to cut down some of the flying Grimm. Qrow with his scatter-gun mode and Ruby with her sniper rifle picked off the smaller Nevermore Chicks as they dive-bombed the caboose. Sun Wukong concentrated hard inside the caboose, allowing his spectral copies to do most of the fighting alongside Blake. Weiss and Yang combined fire and ice as the Grimm continued to swarm over them.

"Guys! Tunnel!", Ozcar called.

Team RWBY and friends pressed themselves to the roof of the train and missed the tunnel's roof by several inches. Within a few seconds, the train emerged from the tunnel and was immediately attacked by even more Grimm. A large Manticore and a Sphinx Grimm bared down on them.

Farther up, Jaune and Pyrrha fought back to back against the Grimm. Ren and Nora pulled off their team attack, Flower Power again and knocked more Grimm off the roof and down into the icy ravine below. Several diamond weapons impaled a Manticore before being retrieved. Rhames had joined Team JNPR this time for battle. He quickly warped towards the fearsome Grimm and beheaded it.

"This isn't working. Ren, can you use your Semblance to hide us?", Jaune said.

"I've never used it on something this big! I'll try!", Ren called.

Ren pressed his hand to the roof of the train and concentrated. All colors seemed to fade from the rooftops and the train itself as Ren's Nullification Semblance spread over Team JNPR and the front half of the train. Team RWBY was still exposed.

"Ruby! Get up here!", Jaune called to her over the radio.

Ruby Rose never heard Jaune's command as she was too busy protecting Ozcar, Qrow and her teammates. Qrow took another shot of liquor and then took another shot at the Sphinx. He aimed and misfired his gun down onto the hydraulic coupler that held the caboose and the last 4 train cars to the rest of the train. The coupling unit failed and broke off, landing on the tracks. Qrow's eyes widened.

The last 4 train cars and the caboose slammed into the broken coupler and jumped the tracks. The Sphinx Grimm and Manticore were thrown off and under the wheels of the train. Time seemed to run in slow motion as Team RWBY and the train cars were thrown from the tracks and down an embankment. The front half of the train surged onward.

"Ruby! Ruby!", Jaune called as he watched the rear half of the train derail. He reached out in an attempt to use his Semblance.

"Get down! Another tunnel!", Rhames yelled as he pulled Jaune through the roof hatch and back into the train. The rest of Team JNPR followed suit.

Down inside the train, Jaune was furious. "You idiot! I could've saved them!", he raged.

"You couldn't have done anything! There wasn't any time!", Rhames argued.

"Jaune. Ruby and her teammates are strong. They most likely survived. I can send a Scroll message to them and have them meet up with us in Argus.", Ren noted.

"Do it then!", Jaune raged.

"_Ruby, Team JNPR is okay. We are headed to Argus. We will wait for you there."_, Ren's message said. A few moments later, Ren received a reply. "_RWBY is fine, just a little bruised. We will meet in Argus. PS. We have the Relic"_

"Ruby is fine and she has the Relic.", Ren noted.

"The Relic? How the hell did she get it?", Jaune asked.

"Well, our bags were in the caboose... I guess we just never grabbed them.", Nora stated.

"Alright. This is a problem. All of my other weapons were in my bags. I only have the _Unforgiven_ and my shield.", Jaune noted.

"But... You still have money, right? We're going to need a place to stay in Argus.", Rhames asked.

"Of course I have money!", Jaune yelled. He sighed. "We'll just have to wait for them before we leave for Atlas. I'm pretty sure whatever it is that Qrow is involved with involves Ozpin and that Relic."

"I might know of a place we can stay...", Pyrrha added.

XXXXX

Qrow spat out a mouthful of snow. He looked around and saw Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake all in similar situations. Ozcar was lying face up in the snow.

"Oz, you okay?", Qrow asked.

"Oz? I'm Oscar... Where... Where am I?", Oscar Pine asked. He was in a different place again, and he was surrounded by a bunch of people he'd never met. They all looked like Huntsmen.

"Oh... Great...", Qrow groaned.

"I... What am I doing here? Oz... Ozpin? Did he bring you here? He... agh... My head... No, please. I don't want to go! I don't want to...", Oscar said. "I'm sorry. It seems like I might've dozed off there for a bit.", Ozpin was back in control again.

"Ozpin?", Qrow asked.

"Yes, Qrow. It's me.", Ozcar stated.

A little further away from the train crash, Ruby dug through the snow for the Relic. She looked around for its faint glow before finding it just behind her, half-buried.

"Don't lose that. I think it's important.", Blake noted.

Another voice rang out. "This was a triumph! Make a note here: Still alive! Still Aliiiive!". A small old woman hopped out of the dining car that now laid on its side. She had old blue robes with intricate designs embroidered on them. She carried a walking stick and had strange mechanical eyes. She turned and stared at the Huntsmen in front of her. "That was a close one!"

XXXXX

What was left of the Argus Limited finally came to a halt in Argus. Atlas Police and Paramedics flooded the area and began to treat anyone who was hurt or frightened from the Grimm attack. Team JNPR and Rhames left the commotion as quickly as they could. Outside the train station, Pyrrha took the lead.

"This is Argus. My hometown.", Pyrrha announced. Argus was an odd city, it was huge and had varying styles of architecture. A massive city skyline was visible in the distance among several traditional Mistrali buildings. A trolley system ran through the thoroughfare.

"It's so big!", Nora exclaimed.

"It's the largest city outside of a Kingdom. Atlas and Mantle were to thank for those developments. Argus is considered part of Mistral and Atlas provides protection for the citizens here. Up until recently, it was the busiest port in all of the world.", Pyrrha explained.

"Awww... Ren! We should go shopping! I bet there's all kinds of cool things here!", Nora said excitedly.

"We should, but we don't know our way around.", Ren noted.

"Well... Argus has a trolley system. You can board one of the trolleys and head all over the city. If you want, you can go and explore the town. Meet back up with Jaune and I at the central park.", Pyrrha said.

"Aww really? Come on Ren! I bet the food here is awesome!", Nora yelled as she pulled Ren away to the trolley station.

"Right... Well, I'm going to go see if there are any Huntsmen Missions that need taken care of. I'll meet you when I'm done.", Rhames noted. He also left aboard the trolley towards the Merchant's District.

Pyrrha pulled Jaune along with her. They were finally alone. "Jaune, come with me. We can stay at my house until Ruby gets here."

"Okay. That sounds cool, you have your own house?", Jaune asked.

"Well... Not really. My mom lives there too, but I'm sure she'd let us stay there. It's a few blocks past the Central Park.", Pyrrha noted.

"The Central Park, huh. You know Cardin said something about that...", Jaune added.

"I don't care. You're coming home with me. We can visit the park on our way. How bad could it be?", Pyrrha said.

As those infamous last words were spoken, it turned out that it could be pretty bad, pretty awkward, and not so great at all. Pyrrha pulled Jaune into the Central Park, ignoring the sign that had been posted on the front gates describing a new feature that had been built. Her green eyes widened at the sight.

A large bronze 40ft statue of herself was built on a pedestal in the middle of the parkway. A garden of red lilies surrounded the statue like a crimson ocean. Pyrrha stared at the statue. It was her, finely captured in a solemn pose, eyes shut and holding her shield below her waist.

"Oh gods. You've got to be _kidding _me!", Pyrrha wailed.

"What... What's wrong?", Jaune asked.

"They... They built a statue of me!? That's the last thing I ever wanted! Not to mention the pedestal, but a forty foot statue!? Why? Everyone _knew_ I hated the attention!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

Jaune took a moment to admire the statue, it was accurate and beheld Pyrrha's beauty for all the world to see. The expression it had was a little sad though. He knelt down at looked at the large plaque at the bottom of the pedestal.

"_In memory of Pyrrha Nikos. One of many students who fought heroically during the Fall of Beacon. May her spirit live on in the hearts of the selfless.", _The plaque read.

"...Why would they do this!? It's right next to my house, too! My _mother_ has to walk by this thing every day!", Pyrrha cried.

"Pyrrha...", Jaune said as he pointed to the plaque.

Pyrrha stood and read the plaque. Her eyes widened and one of them twitched for a moment. It had been about a year or so since the Fall of Beacon... She really did intend to call or write to her mother, but... The Vytal Festival...The Fall of Beacon... A lot had happened and she didn't exactly have access to a mailbox.

"Oh...", Pyrrha noted. "I'll be right back, Jaune."

Pyrrha soared out of the park with her Maiden powers rounding the block and sailing out of eyesight. Her rapid exit pulled the wind along with her and several red leaves floated gently behind her. Jaune sighed and stepped back a bit to admire the memorial.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it.", A voice called from behind. Jaune turned to see who had come to view the statue with him. A red-haired woman stood behind him. She had short red hair and vibrant green eyes. A round set of glasses adorned her face. She was holding a bouquet of red lilies.

"Uhh... Yeah. It's almost like the real thing...", Jaune noted hesitantly. "Why here though?"

"She trained here, at Sanctum. Everyone here was so sad when she chose to go to Beacon instead of Haven, It was where she wanted to go. I'm just glad she was surrounded by so many brave and inspiring people...", the Red-haired woman said.

"_My mother has to walk by this thing every day!"_, Jaune remembered. "I kinda wish she was here right now."

"She is. She's in our hearts.", the Red-haired woman said sadly.

Jaune began to slide away slowly. This was going to get _really_ awkward real soon. "Uhh..."

"She understood that she had a responsibility...To try. I don't think she ever regretted her choice either, because she really didn't have a choice. She was destined to become a Huntress.", Red-haired Woman said.

"Yeah... She may not have graduated, but Pyrrha is definitely a Huntress.", Jaune said awkwardly.

"Thank you... I-I think she knew that she might not come back. But I know she was the only one who could try... I'm sorry... I'm rambling aren't I...I just miss her so much...", The Red-haired woman said as tears crept from her eyes.

"Well...", Jaune was cut off as the wind suddenly picked up again and Pyrrha landed beside him, her Maiden powers dissipating.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha called.

"Pyrrha!?", The Red-haired woman asked.

"Mom?", Pyrrha asked back.

"Oh good gods...", Jaune noted as he watched the Red-haired woman visibly jump at Pyrrha's entrance.

The first thing to hit the ground was a bouquet of flowers. The next thing to hit the ground was the unconscious body of Pyrrha's mother. Perhaps returning from the dead and surprising your mother wasn't such a great idea.

XXXXX

Central Park in Pyrrha-Vision

XXXXX

"I don't care! You're coming home with me! We can visit the park on our way.", Pyrrha said happily. She was going home, she'd get to see her mother again, it had been a long time since she'd written any letters. She thought for a moment, _The last letter I sent was during the Vytal Festival. I sent another one in Patch. I hope it got delivered._

"Oh, Jaune. The park is nice, I don't care what Cardin said, there's this nice little fountain in the middle. You're going to love it!", She said to her handsome friend. She continued to walk into the park. She glanced at a new sign on the gate describing some new attraction, but ignored it. Argus was always building new things.

"Uhh... Pyrrha?", Jaune asked.

Pyrrha just stood in shock as she gazed up at the 40ft bronze statue of herself in a rather sad pose , eyes shut and holding her shield. _Why? I specifically said not.. NOT to build anything in my honor! And they did it anyways. Oh why...?_

"Oh gods, you've got to be freakin _kidding_ me!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"What's wrong...?", Jaune asked.

"They built a statue of me!? Really!? I didn't want this! I didn't want any of this, let alone being held on a pedestal! Everybody _knew_ I hated the attention! And then they built... _THIS!"_, Pyrrha cried.

_This is absurd. They even tore down my favorite fountain to build this THING and plant a garden. At least they planted my favorite flowers, but... NO! They had to build a statue too! Why in all that is holy did they build it here. It's like 5 minutes from my house._, Pyrrha thought.

"Why would they do this to me? It's right next to my house, too! My _mother_ has to walk by this thing every day!", Pyrrha cried.

"Uhh... Pyrrha...?", Jaune said as he pointed out the plaque affixed to the pedestal.

_What, Jaune!? What could... Oh. Oh that's right... The news reports... Team MRJJ... Cardin... I was declared dead. That's what the news said... And that means..._ Pyrrha thought.

"Oh... I'll just be right back, Jaune.", Pyrrha said.

Pyrrha activated her Maiden powers, specifically the one that allowed flight and took to the skies. She flew out of the Park and around the block towards her own house. She needed to tell her mother she was okay. That nothing bad ever happened and it was just a mistake by the news. She flew and landed on her own front porch. The front of her house adorned with more red lilies and 'Sorry for your loss' cards. She rang the doorbell. She rang the doorbell repeatedly before beginning to hammer on the door itself.

"Mom! It's me! I'm alive! Are you there?", Pyrrha called. Nobody answered. Pyrrha felt guilty, maybe her mother had turned into Qrow and was in one of the many pubs around town, drinking her sorrows away. _Oh.. Oh crap. I can't search every bar and pub all by myself. I need to go and get Jaune._

Pyrrha flew back to the park. She saw Jaune first, his back was turned and he was talking to someone.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha called.

"Pyrrha!?", a familiar voice exclaimed in shock.

"Mom!?", Pyrrha responded.

And then Pyrrha's mother dropped a memorial bouquet of flowers before hitting the ground as well. This hadn't gone quite the way she was expecting.

XXXXX

A large clock ticked loudly, its frame covered in golden gears and its face had small red and gold spears pointing to the time. The clock reflected the Nikos family crest. Jaune sat awkwardly on the crimson colored couch in Pyrrha's home's living room. The red-haired woman, now known as Pandora Nikos, Pyrrha's mother was laid out on the other side of the sectional. Pyrrha herself was in the kitchen attempting to brew some tea to calm everyone's nerves. A small orange cat purred quietly on an ottoman close to where Pandora slept.

Jaune took a moment to stretch his legs, Pyrrha's mom was still passed out. Seeing your previously thought dead daughter descend from the sky in front of you probably did some damage. He walked over to the large fireplace which was lined in golden bricks. A large portrait of presumably Pyrrha's family hung over it. A large and intimidating man with a bald head and flame-red beard stood in the middle. He wore legionnaire's armor and carried Milo and Akouo. _Epimetheus_ was inscribed underneath his image. Pandora was painted to the left of the large man, she looked younger and had longer hair like Pyrrha's. She carried an infant in her arms. _Pandora and Pyrrha _the inscription read.

Jaune scratched his chin; Pyrrha is an only child. He thought for a moment, he was also an only child in his own family. If _he_ suddenly disappeared after a major attack he knew that his father would've probably burned half the continent to ash looking for him. Pyrrha's family seemed a little more noble than that.

Jaune turned around again to look at more of the objects that were stored on the many shelves in Pyrrha's living room. There were a lot of tournament trophies, a large picture of Pyrrha at Sanctum with her first regional tournament win had been modified to include a small halo over her head. _Oh gods no..._ he thought. He noticed several of Pyrrha's endorsements, an empty Pumpkin Pete's box and a small cloth doll of the Spartan herself, a replica set of Milo and Akouo, and then he saw the large set of legionnaire's armor hung on the wall in a case. The armor was cracked and dented, large cuts ripped into the metal chest plate. A dented helmet hung above the armor. There was a visible gap at the bottom where two weapons had hung previously. Jaune hesitantly read the small golden plaque on the armor case.

"_In memory of Epimetheus Titanus Nikos, the Invincible Gladiator. Bravest of all who fought in the Uprising and paid the ultimate price for peace."_ the plaque read. Another newspaper clipping described the large man saving thousands as terrorists attacked the train yards and fleeing civilians. He did not make it out of the tunnels before they collapsed, cutting Argus off from the rest of Mistral. Pyrrha's father had fought in the Faunus Uprising almost two decades ago. He had fought the White Fang when they were at their strongest and he had won. Jaune stepped away from the glass case. Pyrrha's family was one of warriors and legends. He accidentally kicked one of the many Ouzo bottles on the floor as he moved back. Pandora began to stir as the sounds of clinking glass startled her.

"Ohh... Owww... Oh, Perseus... I've really got to stop drinking so much... I thought I saw your mother when I went to put the flowers out...", Pandora whispered to the orange cat. "I... How did I get back here?"

"Hello?", Jaune said.

"Augh! It's you... The one from my dream... Let me see your face.", Pandora said as she saw Jaune. He sat down on the couch next to her.

"You... The lone warrior...", Pandora mused. Jaune felt incredibly awkward.

"Haha, well... I wouldn't say I'm a _lone_ warrior...", Jaune stuttered.

Jaune hoped that Pyrrha was done fighting the evil Kettle Grimm in the kitchen and would come back soon with its prized tea. He stared at her discarded armor in the corner of the room. At the moment, Pyrrha had switched back into her old brown bodice, presumably so that her own mother would have a heart attack when she saw her.

"You're the one from...", Pandora was cut off in mid sentence as Pyrrha finally emerged from the kitchen with a tea tray. Pandora's eyes widened and focused on Pyrrha, the girl hadn't changed a bit since she last saw her. Except for the prominent hole in the middle of her bodice... "Aaaugh!"

Pandora's Semblance flared and pulled multiple metal objects off the walls, a large golden trophy struck her in the head and knocked her out again before landing on the floor and ringing like a gong. Seems like Pyrrha's Semblance was another one of those hereditary ones...

Jaune shrugged. "Third time's a charm?". Pyrrha just glared at him.

A few moments later, Jaune sipped the red hibiscus tea that Pyrrha had made for everyone. The Gunslinger and the Spartan sat on the couch on the other side of the table, Pandora sat across from them, visibly shaking and slowly sipping from her teacup.

"It's you...", Pandora said.

"Of course it's me. I'm right here. I'm okay. I'm really here.", Pyrrha said.

Pandora touched Pyrrha's face and settled down onto her hands.

"Oh my god, it really is you. You're alive!", Pandora exclaimed. "After the Fall, I sat here. I was all alone. Days and weeks all alone until they built that memorial. I had hoped you were out there, but I knew you weren't coming home again. What have you been doing out there? It's been an entire year, did you ever think of writing?"

"Well, I did. I sent you a letter after the Fall of Beacon. I've just been busy, honestly. I've been traveling...", Pyrrha said.

"You sent that letter _after_ the fall of Beacon?", Pandora noted. She pulled out a crumpled and torn letter and laid it on the table. Pyrrha really had a way with words, as Jaune soon found out.

"..._Mom, I'm sorry, things have happened and we may never see each-other again. I just want you to know, I've made my decision and I know my fate at the end of this. I don't want you to worry. I just want you to know that I am a Huntress and I will forever watch over you until the end of time."_, the note read. Pyrrha's note probably sounded perfectly fine in her head, but it implied a different tone. The upper half of the letter had been ripped off.

"I wrote more than that... Where's the upper half?", Pyrrha asked.

"There wasn't one, Pyrrha...", Pandora noted.

"I-I meant to write to you more, but I forgot.", Pyrrha said.

"You _forgot_? For an entire year!?", Pandora cried. "I've been sitting here all alone, mourning you! What's going on, Pyrrha? Why won't you tell me where you've been?"

"Well, I guess that's sorta my fault. Pyrrha's my partner. We're teammates.", Jaune said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?", Pandora asked.

"Well...-", Jaune was cut off again.

"Mom, it's a long story... I don't really know how to tell you this, but... I am the Fall Maiden.", Pyrrha said.

"Pyr, have you lost your mind?", Pandora asked, Pyrrha's mom most certainly felt like she was dreaming or possibly in a coma. She went back to touching Pyrrha's face and neck to make sure her daughter was actually physically present and it wasn't some kind of fever dream.

"N-No... I-I haven't... Could you stop touching my face?", Pyrrha asked. Pandora stopped. "I know it's hard to believe, but... Just hear me out, okay?"

Jaune sat and watched Pandora's facial expressions change like the seasons as Pyrrha relayed the ridiculously convoluted situation they were in. Pyrrha even displayed some of her Maiden abilities so that her mother wouldn't think that she was out of her gourd. Jaune cringed a little when Pyrrha got to the part about his very large Aura. He felt another set of green eyes boring into his armor. He hoped that his other teammates were having a slightly better experience than they were at the moment.

XXXXX

Rhames Greyblood stared at his Scroll. He'd taken an Investigation mission, there was some prowler down at the docks who was acting weird and harassing people. He was supposed to go a find out what was going on. He walked until he was on the docks themselves and stared out across the ocean. Ships from Atlas were heading into the military base, but no civilian ships appeared to be leaving. He looked down at a sign that had been posted.

"I'm afraid you're out of luck. The ships will bring you here, but they won't take your forth.", a deep voice said from behind Rhames.

"Oh, great... Hey, dad. What are you doing here?", he asked.

"Oh just checking in. It seems like we don't talk quite enough. Are you enjoying your _gift_?", Arden Greyblood asked.

"Err... Yeah. It's cool, I guess...", Rhames noted.

"Good, good. Twas a gift from a Magician King to an imposter. An imposter that stripped me of my name and rank and cast me out. And now that gift is yours, rightful heir...", Arden noted cryptically.

"Uh.. Yeah. I know.", Rhames said. His father was creeping him out more than usual.

"A King of Bastards and a gift only given to the Bastard's bastards. A lineage of Fallen Kings. Don't fear, dear Son. Don't fear the unkindness that comes.", Arden said.

"Words of wisdom from a great man. So what are you doing here again?", Rhames asked.

"Nothing of consequence. For I am an impatient traveler. I must depart before events come to roost. Good luck, dear Son. And do your father proud.", Arden said before he left, his left hand tapped the dock railing with his rings as he walked off.

Rhames' Scroll chimed. Mission Complete, Investigate the Creepy Guy. He looked up in search of his father, but the strange man had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

**Chapter End. Yes, the Mad King himself is a reference to FFXV's Ardyn Izunia. Fantastic game, definitely play it on PC if you get a chance, the graphics are amazing in 4k. Might be more Pyrrha-Vision if you liked it.**


	24. Redemption Architecture

XXXXX

Chapter 23: Redemption Architecture

XXXXX

Cardin Winchester apparently held a job during the warmer months as a camp counselor in Mistral. He'd managed to cobble together some kind of sled to attach to the back of _Bumblebee_ so that Team RWBY and friends could move easier through the snowy terrain. He had mentioned that there was a small farm a few miles from where they had crashed and they would be able to stay the night there since a storm was beginning to pick up. Ruby was cold and tired.

"So, we need to take the Relic to Atlas?", Ruby asked.

"That's what Oz implied. In either case, Clarkson said we were needed there.", Qrow stated.

"But what does it actually do? It's Knowledge or something?", Ruby asked.

"It is a very powerful artifact. It can answer 3 questions every hundred years. It cannot tell the future, however and it is dormant right now. Its power has been used up.", Ozcar noted.

"So we would just ask it and it answers?", Ruby asked back.

"Indeed.", Ozcar said.

Their travel was slow, the sled was heavy and Yang's motorcycle was overburdened. They had made it no less than a few hundred feet from the wrecked train. Everyone was slowly freezing to death and the old woman, Maria, never stopped talking.

"This is great! We're going to freeze to death or get eaten by Grimm! We've lost half of our party and now we've got to listen to Grandma's stories!", Yang complained loudly.

"Yang, calm down. You'll attract the Grimm with thoughts like those.", Qrow noted.

"It doesn't matter. The Grimm have been following us ever since we left Haven.", Blake added.

"Gee, I wonder why that could be? Ozzzzpiiiinn!", Yang screamed.

"I'm sorry. I was not entirely truthful about the Relic. It does attract Grimm, only faintly, it's undeniable. I do not know why, perhaps their origins. I did not mean to hide the truth. It was safer to not let you know. I did not want to cause any anxiety.", Ozcar stated.

Ozcar Pin was knocked off the sled and into the snow. Yang had punched him.

"Why don't you just go ahead and tell us everything right now? We certainly have the time. We're supposed to do this together, you can trust us. We're not going to turn our backs on you unless you keep telling us lies!", Yang said.

"Please, Yang. You have to understand that I have my reasons for not telling you certain things. There are just some things that you shouldn't know at the beginning of a task. Where's the Relic?", Ozcar said.

"It's here.", Ruby said as she held out the glowing lamp.

"Give it here, Ruby. Only I should bear the burden of carrying it.", Ozcar noted.

"Why should you carry it? I thought it was dormant.", Yang noted.

"Now, Miss Xiao-Long, I need you to-", Ozcar froze. "Don't listen to him. He's lying again.", Oscar Pine managed to croak out.

"What!?", Yang exclaimed.

"It's the boy. The boy that Ozpin is living inside...", Qrow noted.

"He's trying... to stop you... The relic... is active...", Oscar stuttered.

"From doing what?", Weiss asked.

"He doesn't want you to know... What he's hiding...", Oscar struggled.

" 'Jinn'. Say it... Summon it... No, get out of my head! It's my body! You can't... You can't.. have it...", Oscar cried.

"You're not in...control!", Oscar wailed as he grabbed Gambol Shroud off of Blake's belt.

"I am!", Oscar cried as he brought Gambol Shroud's sheath into his own head and knocked himself out. Oscar Pine fell limply onto the snow, Ozpin seemed to be out as well.

"What just happened? Did he just go insane and knock himself out?", Blake asked.

"No...", Yang said.

"Jinn?", Ruby asked.

Time seemed to slow to a stop in front of Team RWBY, Cardin, Russel and Qrow. The Relic of Knowledge levitated in front of them as it began to glow brighter. A glowing being began to form in front of them. It had a different image for each of the Huntsmen. For Ruby, it was Summer Rose, now translucent and blue. For Yang it was Raven. Blake saw an image of Kali Belladonna. Weiss saw her own mother. Cardin saw Velvet Scarlatina and Russel Thrush saw Glynda Goodwitch standing before him. Maria saw a younger version of herself. Qrow didn't see his mother or anyone he really was attracted to throughout his life. Instead, Qrow saw Jinn for what she really was, a celestial being with a vaguely female shape.

"Hmm... Very interesting...", the being known as Jinn noted.

XXXXX

Emerald and Mercury walked through the streets of a small town. Nobody seemed to recognize them. Everyone they met cowered in fear upon the sight of the massive Faunus, though. Mercury had been contacted by a 'person of interest' and they were currently headed to meet them. The town was small and poor; nobody of wealth stayed in this place for too long. Emerald was used to this atmosphere, she used to be a thief before Cinder came around and pulled her into her new life. Her red eyes glanced around looking for any muggers, but there were none.

Mercury relaxed, this was his kind of town. Small buildings, narrow streets, and lots of overhead coverage. He glanced at his Scroll. They were supposed to be meeting their contact in a local dive bar. He stopped Emerald as they arrived at their destination, a bar with a prominent spiderweb crest above the door.

"Well, we're here. Let's hope this isn't just more rabble.", Mercury said as he pushed the front doors open.

Mercury looked around the bar for a moment before noticing the very strange man in the corner. He wasn't dressed like the other bar patrons in rags and scraps, but wore a very fancy feathered trench-coat and a trilby with a small golden crown on it. The man beckoned to them. As they approached, the man took a swig of a jet-black liquid. Mercury winced, this guy was drinking DeathStalker Absinthe, a powerful drink with almost 97% alcohol content. The man didn't even seem to notice the taste and took another sip like it was water.

"Ah yes. Hello and welcome, my dear friends!", the strange man announced.

"Hello. And who are we in the presence of?", Mercury asked as gracefully as he could.

"Ah, no need for formal introductions, you may simply call me Arri. Oh and have you met my dear pet? Be careful, she'll peck your eyes out.", Arri noted as he held out his arm. A small black raven landed on it and cawed at the three.

"Right... Noted. I'm assuming you didn't call us out here for a social call.", Emerald said.

"No, no... Not at all, however that would be quite nice. I think I have some information for you. A little birdie told me you're looking for someone.", Arri noted. His pet turned its head towards him.

"Maybe we are. What do you want anyways?", Emerald asked.

"Oh nothing at all, my dear child. I am a man of no consequence.", Arri said.

"Okay then, no payment. Why don't you tell us what we want to hear?", Emerald noted.

"Of course. It would appear that those you seek are going back to where they came from. Of course, you'd be lucky to find them there with the turmoil. Perhaps it would be smarter to find them where they're trying to be at the moment. A violet citadel stands in the sands. And beneath the sands lies what you most desire. A group is headed there. Best you find them before they find it.", Arri noted cryptically.

"Alright. I can work with that. A violet citadel? Sands?", Emerald asked.

"He's talking about Vacuo. They're headed to Shade Academy in Vacuo; the last place we'd look for them. They're smart.", Mercury noted.

"Ah, smarter than you look, dear boy! And on your way, perhaps you'll meet a fair lady or two. A magician always lies, for it is his masterwork. You can always spot them among the crowd.", Arri noted.

"The Maidens as well? They're in Vale and Vacuo?", Emerald asked.

"Perhaps. I am an impatient traveler, just as you are. I would seek transportation as soon as possible.", Arri said.

"Great. That's all we needed to know. Thank you.", Emerald said as she pulled Mercury out of the bar. The huge Faunus simply followed them out.

"Ta ta, and don't forget to write. I'm sure we'll see each-other in the future!", Arri called as he kissed his pet on the head.

As Emerald and Mercury left the bar, Arri glanced out the window and made sure they were far enough away. He nodded to his pet and the small raven transformed back into Raven Branwen. None of the other bar patrons took any notice to this, Arri had bought everyone copious amounts of booze.

"If you ever kiss me like that again, Arden, I'll feed you your own kidneys.", Raven cursed.

"Best way to keep up appearances, my Queen.", Arden noted.

"Well, that's done for now. I wonder how long it'll be before they realize there's nothing out there. You really play up the mysterious stranger... What happened to you?", Raven said.

"Many things, my dear. When you have stared into the darkness, it stares back into you. I have seen the white witch and I know of what she can do, just the same as you've seen.", Arden noted.

"Hrmm... What's next?", Raven asked.

"The unkindness shall follow them, then fly to her nest... And we that feed on carrion shall feast for a fortnight.", Arden noted.

Raven just shook her head, the Mad King was unintelligible at times, but she knew what he was implying. She walked into the dive bar's bathroom and cut open a portal. It was time to inform her other half.

XXXXX

It was a pleasant sunny day. Birds were chirping, and Zwei the dog ran happily in circles around his master. Taiyang sat and tended to the garden. He had planted some vegetables and was getting ready to pick some fresh carrots for a stew later tonight. He was, for all intents and purposes, completely content. Ruby had sent him a letter a few weeks ago, she was doing good and was heading to Atlas. They saved Haven. The other letter he'd received was a little disconcerting, Yang told him of a long lost brother she'd just met. He was big and strong and she didn't understand why nobody knew he existed. Taiyang knew why, he just didn't have the heart to tell her about her brother and the insanity he was raised in. He turned around as the sound of a portal opening startled him.

"Raven!? What are _you_ doing here!?", Tai exclaimed.

"Oh cut the crap, Tai. You know why I'm here.", Raven said.

"Uhh, no? No, I don't know why you're here!", Tai cursed.

"Well, it involves your daughter and the 'Mad Prince'.. Stop pretending you didn't know.", Raven said.

"Well... If he's with her, then... Did he use it? Did he use the...", Tai trailed off.

"Of course he used it. It was one of the only reasons why they were able to save Haven. And don't think Arden isn't already aware of it either. I just finished talking with him.", Raven said.

"You know. For some reason, I wish you'd have never met that murderous bastard. But... I mean I guess you just did what you had to do.", Tai mused.

"And yes, Tai. I did manage to get it. It's safely in the hands of our offspring.", Raven noted.

"Really? I guess all that sacrifice was worth it. What are you planning next?", Tai noted.

"A long trip to an endless beach. You'd better get your hiking boots on, you're coming too.", Raven said before she cut open another portal and disappeared, leaving Taiyang standing there like a lemon.

"Where? Where am I going!? Why do you put me through this!?", Taiyang screamed to the skies. His Scroll chimed. He had a one-way train ticket to Vacuo. His train was leaving in 45 minutes.

"Oh for the love of-"

XXXXX

In a dimly lit cave, two individuals hesitantly roasted some 'strange meat' over the fire in the middle of the room. Their new friend just chewed off hunks of meat from the bone.

"I hesitate to ask, but this 'delicious meal' isn't from anyone we know, is it?", Torchwick asked as he noticed the Belladonna family crest tattooed into the chunk of meat Cinder Grimm was devouring. Cinder Grimm just glared at him for a moment before resuming her meal. Her jaw now split horizontally and vertically and revealed an extra set of teeth alongside fangs.

"I'll take that as a 'probably', then.", Torchwick noted.

"...", Neo said.

"Ugh, that's disgusting. But, we're not _technically_ cannibals. They were only half-human anyways.", Torchwick noted.

"So do we have a plan? I'm sure you don't want to sit in here all day long.", Torchwick asked Cinder.

"Find... Kill... Eat... Little Red.", Cinder growled.

"Well, that's a plan! Haha... Ha...", Torchwick laughed awkwardly.

"!", Neo exclaimed.

"No running... Eat Neo first... Torchwick watches... Then Torchwick eaten... If betrayed...", Cinder growled again, now bearing her new fangs at the two.

"Oh right. Not even a thought. Well, seeing as you can't really walk around in Mistral, I guess I'll just have Neo do some recon for us.", Torchwick reasoned.

"You... stay...", Cinder hissed.

"Of course. I'll keep you company in here, maybe even buy us a nice dinner that _isn't_ roasted Faunus.", Torchwick said in fear.

XXXXX

Rhames quickly met up with Ren and Nora. They had urgently called him to the Central Park. Ren and Nora seemed lost in thought, he turned around and saw what they were staring at.

"Aww, Ren. It's so sad! It's a memorial garden.", Nora noted.

"It says, _In Memory of Pyrrha Nikos_... Nora, Pyrrha is alive.", Ren said.

"Well, we know that! But... Everyone here... They didn't know, Ren. If we had parents, would they have mourned for us as well?", Nora asked.

"I'm sure they would've. I hope Pyrrha has kept in touch with them. I can't even imagine how they must feel...", Ren stated.

"This is a nice statue... It uh... It really captures her image well.", Rhames said. He didn't really know Pyrrha that well other than she was a famous athlete and one of the many students declared missing or dead in the Fall of Beacon.

"Rhames, have you _ever_ felt sad before? This is a memorial to our friend!", Nora said.

"Well, honestly... Not really. My father is a little... off. He encouraged me to never feel anything for those I fought alongside, they'd just end up leaving me one way or another...", Rhames noted.

"That is... so messed up...", Nora noted.

"Hey, he went through a lot. My uncle threw him out of his own kingdom and then my father had to kill him to get it back. You don't know what we've been through!", Rhames said.

"You're right. We don't. If we're going to be teammates, we need to talk to each-other.", Ren noted.

"Well, I don't know about teammates...", Rhames said.

"Yeah, I guess we're not really that either... You're older and you're a licensed Huntsmen. You already graduated from an Academy...", Nora said.

"Well, we are still friends and friends need to talk to each-other.", Ren noted.

"Oh... Alright then...", Rhames said.

"Oh hey, where's Jaune and Pyrrha? They told us to meet them here...", Nora asked.

Ren and Rhames shrugged. Maybe they went off to find a place for them to stay.

XXXXX

Jaune sat in Pyrrha's living room. His lover and teammate had finally finished her explanation. She'd gone over everything that had happened since the Fall of Beacon, she explained why there was a hole in her bodice, she explained the reason why she now wore Trevali Nano-fibre mesh and that Jaune had saved her life with it. She showed off her new weapons and the armor made from her family's legacy ones. Pandora just sat in shock.

"So... Let me try to understand this: Professor Ozpin is an immortal wizard born from the efforts of hundreds of lives trying to stop some evil creature from finding a set of ancient relics hidden inside vaults that only Sirens can open. And then when you find all the relics you can summon some kind of warrior?", Pandora asked.

"Well, they're Maidens, not _Sirens_. And we don't really know what all the relics really do.", Pyrrha said.

"Well that's a lot more straightforward than the stuff that the Temple says. I guess I believe you? I mean, you are alive and standing right in front of me right now.", Pandora reasoned.

"Oh? The Temple? Have you been there recently?", Pyrrha asked.

"No... Not since you left for Beacon. I was just told something strange anyways. A lone warrior would carry vengeance and sorrow with him to avenge the lost. And I would feel his sorrow as if it were my own.", Pandora noted. "I never thought they could've been talking about you, Pyrrha."

"But they were wrong. Jaune isn't alone. He's with me.", Pyrrha said.

"And that's the scary part of it, Pyrrha. They're never wrong. The Temple has always lead us, they've never been wrong. Ever.", Pandora stated.

"Well... The Temple told me I would never become a hero. That I would be immortal, but only as a martyr. They were wrong, too. I am a hero and I'm not a martyr.", Pyrrha noted.

"Again, that's the scary part of it. Your father was a Gladiator and he died a martyr. He was the firstborn of his family. The Oracles always said that our firstborn would follow their father's footsteps. That was the _fate_ of the Nikos family. I didn't want you to do that, but you always wanted to be a great Huntsman like he was. I knew you were lost the moment you left. But somehow, the Oracles were wrong. And now you're back.", Pandora said.

"I defied fate.", Pyrrha stated.

"That's... You can't defy fate, Pyrrha. Maybe you can hold it off for a while but...", Pandora mused.

"But... You missed me. You wanted me to write to you and you wanted me to come back. That's what you wanted right?", Pyrrha asked. Her mother was starting to get a little skeptical.

"I did. I wanted more than anything else in the world to have you here again. I wanted to see your face and hear your voice again. I wanted you to tell me you'd decided to come home and you'd reconsidered becoming a Huntress. But... The Oracles already made it clear that would not be happening. I had them build that memorial to you. I wanted you home. And I wanted closure.", Pandora noted sadly.

"Mom?", Pyrrha asked.

"I got what I wished for. I got to see you again. I got to hear your voice and hear your stories. And I'm happy you survived the Fall of Beacon. But... The Oracles are never wrong, Pyrrha. I just want you to stay with me here for a while. I want to know that when you go, you let me know... I want to be ready this time. You cannot defy _fate_.", Pandora said.

"I... I'll stay. As long as you let my friends stay here as well. I'll stay as long as I can.", Pyrrha said.

Pandora just nodded to Pyrrha as she took another sip of the hibiscus tea. Pandora hoped that this wasn't some kind of fever dream and that when she woke up tomorrow, Pyrrha was still here with her, safe and sound.

Some time later, Pandora had gone upstairs to rest. Jaune and Pyrrha sat alone on the couch again, the ancient clock still ticking away, a reminder that time still raced on.

"The Temple?", Jaune asked.

"The Oracles there supposedly can tell the future. My family has been guided by them forever. Everything the Oracles have told us has come true.", Pyrrha explained.

"Maybe we should pay them a visit? I'm kinda curious about it.", Jaune noted.

"Jaune, that's probably a bad idea. Whatever you did with your Semblance might've caused this, you said you _watched_ me die, and then you saved me. For all we know, as soon as I get there, the Oracles will drown me in the scrying pool for defying _fate._", Pyrrha noted.

"That's a little extreme, Pyrrha. But, I'm not against protecting you from the Oracles if that's what they decide to do...", Jaune noted.

"You'd attack a dozen elderly women?", Pyrrha asked.

"Maybe?", Jaune said.

Jaune and Pyrrha's Scrolls chimed. It was Ren.

"Jaune, Pyrrha. We are at the park.", Ren stated.

"I guess we should go and meet them.", Pyrrha concluded.

XXXXX

Snow hung in the air, the wind had stopped blowing. Team RWBY saw a being that they all recognized in one way or another. Qrow saw something strange and Ozpin began to wake up. Maria fiddled with her mechanical eyes as she attempted to come up with a reason for what she was seeing.

"I am the being known as Jinn. I was created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge...", the strange being said. "I am capable of answering 3 questions every one hundred years. You have 2 questions remaining."

"Stop! Don't say another word!", Ozcar shouted.

"Hello again, old man. Please word _your_ question in a sensible fashion this time. I will not accept double-negatives and circular logic this time.", Jinn noted.

"What is Ozpin hiding from us.", Ruby asked.

Ozcar Pin lunged at Ruby Rose as she asked the question, he stopped short and seemed to have an argument with himself as he struggled to control his own limbs.

"_You're lying to them!", _Oscar Pine cursed at Ozpin in his own head.

"_They don't need to know this! It will cause a panic! I'm only trying to protect them!"_, Ozpin reasoned with Oscar.

"_You're trying to protect yourself! You failed to stop her when you had the chance! I see your memories too, old man!"_, Oscar raged.

Oscar Pine stood with one hand outstretched towards Ruby and another hand on his own head. Having two souls was getting difficult, but the boy was learning how to suppress the crazy wizard in his own head.

"Well, a long time ago... In a tower far far away...A lonely girl was locked away. Her name was Salem.", Jinn said.

Team RWBY just stood in shock. Ruby Rose noticed that Cardin and Russel weren't beside them anymore. They'd disappeared from the strange stage that Jinn had conjured for them. She briefly wondered where they went as this lost fairytale was explained to them.

In another strange stage, Cardin stood alone with the spectral version of Velvet in front of him.

"You're not part of this. I will answer a question free of charge. What do you wish to know?", Spectral Velvet asked.

"Where is the rest of my team?", Cardin asked. He'd lied to Ruby. He wasn't sure what had happened to the rest of CRDL after the Fall of Beacon.

"Very well, you're not going to like what you're about to see.", Spectral Velvet noted.

XXXXX

Jaune and Pyrrha quickly left her house. Pyrrha kept her old armor on, Jaune had proposed going to see the Oracles at the Temple and she didn't really need any armor for that. The duo walked down the block to the Central Park again. They entered and saw Ren and Nora staring at the statue as Rhames sat quietly on one of the benches.

"Pyrrha! There you are! I was getting tired of looking at your statue.", Nora cried.

"Hello, again!", Pyrrha said.

"So, Nora and I have tried out all of the delicacies in town. I presume you have found us somewhere to stay until Team RWBY arrives?", Ren noted.

"Of course! You can all stay at my house. It's just around the corner. 343 Red street. It's on the corner of Red and Blue street, you can't miss it.", Pyrrha noted.

"Aw yeah! Dinner at Pyrrha's house!", Nora exclaimed.

"Nora, calm down.", Ren said.

"It's fine. My mother will enjoy the company.", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, just don't make any sudden moves. She gets a little jumpy. Pyrrha and I have to go and do some stuff.", Jaune said.

"Oh _really_? Stuff you can't do at your mother's house?", Nora said with a big shit-eating grin.

"Uhmmm...", Pyrrha blushed.

"Stuff _exactly_ like that. Do you want me to describe it? Maybe Ren can take some pointers!", Jaune mocked.

"Jaune! We will head to Pyrrha's house. You do _not_ need to explain anything.", Ren said firmly.

"Aww Ren! I heard Jaune has a _huge_ Aura. I wonder how he manages it...", Nora mused.

"Nora! Let's go!", Ren said as he for once dragged the orange-haired girl away from everyone else. Jaune quietly made a hand gesture behind Ren implying that something was rather small. Nora noticed and giggled softly.

"What about you?", Pyrrha asked Rhames.

"I have some things to take care of as well. I took a Mission, need to go turn it in, maybe I'll grab another one before I come back. Life of a Huntsman, you know?", Rhames stated.

Pyrrha just nodded to the man as he grabbed his things and headed off in the opposite direction of their teammates. Pyrrha sighed.

"Let's just get this over with, Jaune. You want to see the Temple? I'll take you to the Temple...", Pyrrha said in exasperation.

XXXXX

Adam Taurus sat in his cell. His cell had walls covered in padding, no windows, and a heavy door with a small slot for inserting food trays. The walls were padded so that he couldn't hurt himself or anyone who came in to collect his uneaten food.

He was chained to the wall and unable to move. His right hand was missing completely due to the blond-haired boy who had shot it off during his uprising. Internally, he was screaming. He wished absolute death on the blond-haired boy, he was coming for him. He wanted to watch Blake choke on her own blood as he ever so slowly shoved his sword through her sternum. He wanted all that dared oppose him fall before him. He roared helplessly, there was nothing he could do from the inside of a jail cell. He shut his eyes for a moment to think of any possible way out of here. When he opened them again, there was a strange man in his cell with him.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm a man of no consequence.", the strange man said.

"Who the hell are you!? How did you get in here?", Adam asked in disbelief.

"An impatient traveler... Nobody to concern yourself with... Unless, the rat would like out of his cage.", the stranger said.

"Out? How in the hell am I supposed to get out of here? Don't you think I've thought of that already?", Adam said.

"There are but only two ways out of this cell, Adam. In a box... or on your own feet.", the stranger said.

"How do you know my name?", Adam asked. This was getting weird.

"I know many things. When you have stared into the darkness, it stares back into you and it speaks sweet nothings into your ear. You are lost, dear Adam. And you don't know why.", the stranger stated.

"You don't _know_ me!", Adam raged.

"Ah, but I do. I do know you... Abandoned as a child, never met his mother... So sad. Wanted to be a good boy, but a life of crime changed that. Imprisoned and a slave to the SDC. The son of a righteous father, a Judge. And the proverbial son decided he was to be the Judge, the Jury and the Executioner...", the stranger said.

"How... How do you know that! That's impossible!", Adam raged, he'd never met this stranger before and he still couldn't understand how he'd made it into his cell without being detected.

"Not impossible, dear boy. I shall tell you more, once you make your decision.", the stranger said.

"What decision is that? Oh...", Adam realized. He was chained to a wall and there was a strange man standing in the cell with him. The stranger was free to do as he pleased, while the Faunus was prey to a predator.

"And what is that decision?", the strange asked.

"My own feet.", Adam said.

There was a glow of red as the chains that held the Faunus to the wall unlocked and fell away. He was free again! But the cell door was still shut and there was still this strange man standing in his way. He didn't have any of his weapons and was still wearing bright yellow prison scrubs.

"A wonderful choice. I suppose you need some introduction. I am Arden. And we are going to get to know each-other _very_ well. It is time to leave, dear boy. Please, come with me.", the stranger said as he held out his hand.

Adam took Arden's hand. He was highly suspicious, but what choice did he have now? If the prison guards found out he was unchained, they'd come in and beat him bloody. If he refused the man's gesture, he'd probably be found dead and bloody in the cell. He still couldn't fathom how the man had gotten in here or made the chains disappear, so he just accepted whatever was going to happen.

There was a flash and the sound of flapping wings, a shower of black feathers and suddenly Adam found himself somewhere else. Somewhere he'd never been before. He was in a small town. Nobody seemed to know who he was. They all just carried on with their lives. The strange man, Arden, still stood next to him. Adam looked around, he spotted a risque pub, a doctor's office and a large building in the distance.

"Welcome home, Adam.", the stranger said calmly.

XXXXX

Pyrrha lead Jaune up the cliff side, they were headed to the Temple of Pythia, the Soothsayers' place of residence and the only place your _destiny_ could be foretold. The Temple was largely a circular structure with pillars surrounding a cylindrical main building. A large dome crowned the top of the structure in gold and crimson and several dozen torches lit the pathways towards the front door. Several robed women walked the premises.

"Jaune, we're here. This is the Temple.", Pyrrha noted as she beheld the great building to Jaune. They could see Argus in the valley far below.

"Welp. Let's get our fortunes read.", Jaune said.

"That's not how it works, Jaune. They will tell you your _destiny_. I... I know you don't believe in that, but... Just try to understand what my mother is feeling.", Pyrrha said. "They already told me what my _fate_ is. I... I don't think they'll say it has changed."

"Only one way to find out.", Jaune said as he pulled the red-haired Spartan through the front doors of the temple.

Pyrrha had been right about the interior of the Temple. There was a large pool of swirling waters in the dead center of the room. It was several feet deep and the Oracles could probably drown someone in them. More braziers were lit adjacent to the pillars holding up the massive dome. The dome was painted and showed images of heroes and villains in battle across the cosmos.

"You! You have returned...", an old woman said. She pointed to Pyrrha with a gnarled finger.

"I have... I have defied _fate._", Pyrrha said.

"You have not...", the old woman said.

"But, you told me I was going to be a martyr... I'm still alive.", Pyrrha noted.

Another louder voice called to her, a younger Oracle with eyes that shown out in bright white. "We did not state that. Do you not remember what was stated?"

"Uhhmmm...", Pyrrha sighed.

"We said, 'You will become a god-like in nature, but you will not be a hero.', that was what was stated.", the young Oracle said. "You asked us if you weren't to be a hero, what you would be and we answered: a martyr, a saint or a confessor..."

"But... I still don't understand...", Pyrrha stuttered.

"_Fate_ works in mysterious ways. Even now, your _destiny_ is clouded. Your _fate_ has yet to be determined.", the older Soothsayer noted.

"Do you see anything different this time?", Pyrrha asked.

The young Oracle and several other older Soothsayers chanted ancient words into the scrying pool. The Oracle began to speak.

"Although born in light, life ends in darkness. A path walked long and hard no longer followed. A light at the end and a voice in the dark.", the Oracle said.

Pyrrha adjusted her circlet and scratched her head. This made absolutely no sense whatsoever. The Oracle was being even more cryptic than before.

"Thank you. I will consider your words of wisdom.", Pyrrha said.

"And your friend? Does he wish to see his _destiny_ as well?", the Oracle asked.

"I want to see it. Ohhhh, I want to see it so badly! Let _me_ look into the magic pool!", Jaune exclaimed.

"Very well, although you will not see much. You are not an Oracle or Soothsayer.", the Oracle stated.

Jaune walked over to the edge of the scrying pool. He noticed that the bottom of the pool was visible and appeared to have been sealed with some kind of caulk. There were multiple cracks in the ancient structure. The Soothsayers began to chant again and the pool began to swirl into recognizable shapes and colors. Pyrrha looked a little worried.

"Oh... my GODS!", Jaune exclaimed. The Oracles recoiled upon his reaction.

"I get it..!", Jaune cried. The Oracles still recoiled, some of them staring at the young man.

"I understand! I understand EVERYTHING!", Jaune exclaimed as he fell into a fit of maniacal laughter. The Temple began to shake, pillars began to collapse. A series of images flashed through his mind, he saw the Vaults and the Relics, another image of a different Maiden, a world bathed in purple light, a hero beside a queen, and hellfire from the skies. The images blurred into a flash of colors before settling on himself against a backdrop of shattered mirrors, a thousand versions of Jaune staring back from the shards.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha exclaimed. She went to pull Jaune away from the pool but he was stuck to the ground by some unseen force.

The oracles began to chant, "The end of all things to come.."

Pyrrha just grabbed Jaune by the shoulders. She activated her Maiden powers and lifted him, pulling part of the floor up with him. He was still stuck in a fit of maniacal laughter, he cackled seemingly at everything. She flew out of the temple, pulling Jaune along with her as the Temple shook. Oracles and Soothsayers ran in different directions. The quakes that shook the temple faded as Jaune was brought farther outside.

Outside, Jaune stopped cackling and turned to look at the Spartan.

"Pyrrha? I understand it now... I get it. Oh, I get it... The Relics, the Maidens...My Semblance... All of it...", Jaune said.

"What do you mean? What did you see?", Pyrrha asked. The Oracles slowly reentered the Temple.

"Oh I saw everything. This evil we face? Salem? She can't be killed. She _can_ be defeated and we need to find those Relics. Because when we do, it's going to be sooooo good. This world is going to be bathed in redemption. The villains are going to die left and right. And we... We are going to be the _warriors_ of legend.", Jaune rambled. "We're going to be legends! We're going to defy _destiny_! We will be gods!"

"Jaune... Snap out of it, please!", Pyrrha pleaded.

"We will be gods! We were born from the world's destruction! We will defy _destiny!_ We _are_ gods. We will rebuild the world itself! We control _destiny!_ We control _destiny! WE CON-", _Jaune was cut off as Pyrrha slammed him in the head and knocked him out. The Spartan wasn't sure what was going on. Perhaps Jaune saw something in the pools. She carried her prone boyfriend back towards Argus. She had a lot of questions for him.

**Chapter End. Off the deep end, he goes. Who's he pulling along with him? Nobody knows.**


	25. Unkindness Conspiracy

XXXXX

Chapter 24: Unkindness Conspiracy

XXXXX

Raven Branwen paced around the lower floor of her stronghold. Her Faunus doctor was muttering incoherently again. She gave a sideways glance to Doctor Stannis. She was expecting Arden to return soon; he was bringing yet another one of her wayward children to her, one she was painfully aware of. A child she had during a mission to Atlas in secret before she left Team STRQ. A child who had harmed another of her children. She really didn't know what she was going to do whenever he got there, she just knew she probably shouldn't kill him as soon as he walked through the door.

"Can't you see I'm busy? Busy as a bee. Busy buzzy bee bodies. Bumblebees on bicycles? Bulls being blasted by bumblebees on bicycles!? Belligerently bisexual bumblebees on bicycles blasting bigoted bulls bringing bravado! The cold Mistral nights remind me of snow, which knows nothing of what it is to become when the weather changes. ", Doctor Stannis rambled. Raven gave him another sideways glance and facepalmed hard.

"Ah, the fairest of all Maidens! My queen, I have returned with your lost lamb.", Arden said as he pulled a rather unruly Faunus into the building.

Raven hesitated for a moment. Before her stood Adam Taurus, another bastard child. He had injured Yang earlier, severing her arm. He had also lead a world-feared terrorist organization. She felt a familiar rage building and struggled to keep it from spewing forth. Her eyes began to glow.

"And I have brought, you, Adam. To see your long lost mother! Happy days for the wayward Prince.", Arden said in an overly happy tone to the Faunus.

Adam had no words for this moment. His mother was human? That didn't seem right, yet the more he stared at her, he began to see the resemblance. The both wore the same colors and fought with similar blades. They both lead their own teams of rebellion. They had the same look in their eyes. Raven's eyes were literally on fire at the moment and he didn't know why. He very quickly found out as he was suddenly being crushed to death on the floor in agonizing pain.

"You!", Raven exclaimed, the Maiden powers now fully empowering her. In pure rage, she slammed Adam to the ground and began to conjure the fire that would cleanse his body of its soul.

"Now, now... Perhaps we should let the boy live. Both of us have done our fair share equal wrongdoing. Perhaps the boy would like to know how _exactly_ his mother became a Maiden and the 'man of no consequence' is now his step-father...", Arden mused.

Adam could only stare at the ceiling in agony. He was being crushed to death slowly and painfully. His mother was a _Maiden_? He had a step-father? His arrogance began to wither as he saw his life flash before his eyes, a poor boy born under the shadows of his righteous fanatical father, his hatred for law and order, his choice to become an agent of chaos itself and the hatred for humans that burned within his heart. If he hadn't held onto the rage, perhaps he would have had a different life; a life of peace and friendship. All his battles for 'Faunus Rights' ended with more deaths of Faunus; the people he'd sworn to protect. He'd absolutely failed as a leader. He used his power over his followers as a mean to his own ends, an army fighting for his perceived injustice against him. As he lay on the floor, he realized all his problems originated from one source_; himself. _

Still being crushed to death, he realized that this was the_ fate_ he deserved; death. He saw the bandit queen, Raven Branwen standing over him with fistfuls of fire conjured from the powers of the gods themselves. Arden said something, but he didn't hear it; it was getting darker and darker. He shut his eyes in pain and sad reflection. "Forgive me...", he whimpered.

"Let him _live!?_ Arden, you're the 'Mad King', but now you've really lost it! _He_ maimed Yang!", Raven raged.

"Perhaps, but he didn't know who she was at the time. Perhaps if things were different... Perhaps if they'd had a loving mother instead of an errant vagabond, they would've grown up as loving siblings living a life of peace and harmony. There are a lot of instances of 'what if', but we all know that is just a fantasy. A pretty picture painted within your memories and nothing more.", Arden noted.

"Just let me do this, Arden... It'll save us the trouble of doing it later when he eventually escapes and possibly _kills_ our children!", Raven raged.

"Aww, look. He's begging for forgiveness now. Isn't that sad, a fearless leader faced with death itself. Not so fearless now?", Arden mused at Adam's plea.

"Please... Forgive...", Adam sighed, Raven was still crushing him, the floor now cracking under the pressure. The holy fire within Raven's hands flared and lashed out towards his face.

"What he has done cannot be forgiven!", Raven yelled.

"And yet, I forgave you when you took the powers of a Maiden... As 'mad' as I may be, I would never kill my own child. And you will _not_ be forgiven this time.", Arden said somewhat threateningly.

Raven hesitated again. The fireball she'd launched at Adam reversed its travel back into her hand. She shook in anger, both at Adam and Arden. She probably _could_ take Arden in combat, but that was just asking for most of her town to be destroyed in a needless fight. The Mad King was unbelievably strong due to his usage of both his Semblance and the Rings he'd taken. If there was a male version of a Maiden, Arden was exactly that.

Adam felt the crushing pressure suddenly disappear. He could breathe! He gasped in agony, his lungs burning. He slowly sat up and then stood. Raven still eyed him like a hawk and Arden stood simply with his arms crossed. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that if he decided to attempt to use bravado and force he'd soon be very familiar with the ground as it quickly covered his body in shameful regret to the 'boy who failed'.

"You're forgiven... For now.", Raven said.

"You're... You're my _mother!?", _Adam questioned.

"I am. Your father needed a little _bribery _during a mission_._ He's a Judge in Atlas. He's corrupt. One thing lead to another and... my bouncing baby Faunus was born.", Raven said.

"My... My father said you... He said that you'd abandoned me! You left us because you couldn't stand having a 'little monster'!", Adam swore.

"No... He won custody. You were a cute little calf. I wanted to keep you, but he won custody through perjury and took you away from me. He wanted to raise you with his own twisted visions in your head.", Raven stated.

"My... My father never loved me. He hated me all my life!", Adam raged.

"As he would. He's a Faunus Extremist. He couldn't stand having a child with a _human_. You were a half-breed by his standards. Only the purest Faunus are the best Faunus.", Raven noted.

"I... I thought he was right, though. He executed humans left and right for crimes. I... I grew up knowing that humanity was only out to destroy us. The lower city of Atlas was the embodiment of what humans gave us. They gave us scraps to fight over as they lived in their flying city! They could look down every day and see us fighting to survive!", Adam said.

"And yet, a Faunus represented Atlas during the Vytal Festival. Your father was both corrupt and ignorant. He won custody of you by force. He influenced you to hate humans. And you made your own choices from that experience. I am truly sorry. You had nothing else to work with.", Raven noted.

"I... You're my mother... What do I do now?", Adam asked, he had no idea what to do, his life was in chaos. It was painful to be on the receiving end of chaos. All his twisted beliefs came back around and kicked him straight in the face. Then the realization of all that he had done came back again and kicked him harder. He felt as if his soul was being shredded. He would have legitimately taken two swords through the chest and back instead of whatever this feeling was.

"Well, I'd apologize to your siblings as a start. They probably won't go easy on you though.", Raven said.

"I have siblings!? Who are they?", Adam asked. He finally had a family! He wasn't alone anymore! There was still a chance for him to have friends! A little warmth spread though his body, he wanted this. He wanted this more than anything before; a real family.

"Well, Rhames is a big guy. He wears matte black legionnaire's armor and a kilt. Nice in heart, but huge and full of madness. You can thank Arden for that interesting trait.", Raven noted.

"Rhames. Got it. Who else?", Adam asked.

"Oh... Oh my sweet summer child. You've already met my daughter! Her name is Yang and she has blond hair and anger issues. She fought in the Battle of Beacon. If anyone's less likely to forgive you, it's her.", Raven stated.

Adam Taurus paled, the previously felt warmth turned to icy pain and a foreboding sense of dread. _Oh... Oh no..._ He'd fought her already. He'd... He'd cut off her arm. He suddenly came to terms with his imminent death and he was fine with it. He'd caused a lot of problems for everyone. He would make an attempt at apologizing to her even if it meant he'd be taking a sword through his chest. He had to try at least.

"Yang... Okay... I'm probably going to die trying, but... I deserve this.", Adam reasoned.

"Seek redemption, child. Even if you die trying, you've still redeemed yourself in the end.", Arden noted.

If getting stabbed was equal to redemption, Adam was ready to be stabbed a hundred times over and over. He'd done so much to so many people in his quest for vengeance. And his vengeance wasn't even justified. It was a lie. He had only himself to blame for it; he had completely and utterly fucked himself.

"I will. I... There's nothing I can say to everyone I've hurt. I can only help them with my actions. And I hope my actions will redeem my soul.", Adam said, he'd had an epiphany, he was going to help instead of hurt. The only person getting hurt now was himself and he was ready for that. He wouldn't die today, he'd die trying to right his own wrongs.

"There you go. I... I was hoping you'd see the light, Adam.", Raven noted.

"Where do I start?", Adam asked.

"Well, Yang was headed to Atlas. Rhames should be close to her. I suggest you keep your distance until they're aware that you're trying to help them.", Raven noted.

Adam just nodded in agreement. Today was a day of change. Adam saw his own death approaching and reflected upon it. He saw a boy, lonely and afraid. He saw a mother saddened by the loss of her son. He saw a bad future. He decided to change it. He no longer held onto the hatred that had been ingrained into his mind from his early childhood. His real father was corrupt and insane. He had a loving family and if he chose, he could have that same family he'd always dreamed about. He decided to make some changes.

XXXXX

Blue smoke filled the area, it dissipated and beheld a young woman with pale blond hair and blue eyes. She looked sad for some reason. She got up from her mirror, on of the few fixtures in the scene and walked away.

"Salem was born in a time when man wielded magic and king and their kingdoms were plentiful. She only desired one thing: Freedom.", Jinn noted.

The youthful looking Salem outstretched her hand and conjured several spheres. She launched them at the tower's walls to no effect.

"Despite her power, she could not break through the tower's imprisoning walls.", Jinn stated.

Young Salem stared at her prison walls and gave up. She was trapped in here. She cried incoherently to her ghostly audience.

"Until one day, a warrior came to free her from her prison.", Jinn noted.

A suave and handsome man seemed to approach the tower. He was confident and wore ivory armor. He held a sword and shield. He walked towards the tower where the young woman was held.

"He was known throughout all the lands, as Ozma. A righteous hero. He sought not the girl's hand in marriage, but a companion. A nice quirky girl who would see him for who he was. He was a _pawn_ of fate itself.", Jinn continued.

Ozma stood, dirty-blond haired with eyes of heterochromia. One eye blue and the other green. He was noble and confident. Warriors fell before him. An image of a dark-armored figure fell. Ozma seemed to break down the door leading to the imprisoned girl and then, the two of them joined together. Seemingly a Maiden with a Warrior. The two strode out of the tower confidently.

"And something bound them together, the Warrior and the Maiden fair. They both escaped the forbidden fortress with no thought to the life within.", Jinn continued. Ruby stood in awe.

Ozma and Salem ran, far from the tower that was a prison. They ran away from the kingdom that cursed the two of them. The kept going until they realized something about each-other.

"They had found their soulmates and they fell deeply in love and lived happily ever after... Or so they thought.", Jinn continued.

The scene seemed to shimmer and change to a vision of Ozma in bed with heavy bandages over his chest. Young Salem cried over the body of her loved one.

"Ozma, the hero of legend, had been poisoned. Where all the beasts and blades and battles had failed, the legend was taken by a single poisoned arrow.", Jinn continued

The scene changed again, Ozma's body now gone and Young Salem holding onto Ozma's armor and mace and crying loudly.

"How could this happen!? This isn't fair!", Young Salem raged.

The girl prayed to the God of Light and the God of Darkness, she hoped that they would see their injustice and bring her beloved back to her. She eventually sought out the Gods themselves in their own sacred places.

The scene began to change again and all of Team RWBY stood in shock at what was happening. Qrow was shocked. Ozcar simply facepalmed, this was not what he wanted any of them to see.

Far back in the fallen train cars, Sun Wukong finally woke up. He was inside the caboose when it flew off the tracks and tumbled. He was violently beaten and knocked unconscious. He walked outside and saw his friends and teammates standing catatonic several meters away. They were still and unmoving. Their eyes were pure white and staring into the void. He hesitantly poked Blake a few times.

"Blake? Are you in there? Blake? Sun to Blake it's your boy, Sun! Hello!?"

XXXXX

On the upper floor of Raven's stronghold, a man sat in silent reflection. The man formerly known as Adam Taurus just stared at his own image in the mirror. He just saw a monster staring back at him. The brand over his eye marring his image, his horns sharp and unruly making his appearance even more menacing. His hair was spiked and unkempt. He sighed heavily and began to make some changes.

It felt awkward and hurt a little, but he filed his horns down leaving two stumps near his hairline. He cut and combed his hair into a more respectable style, smoothed over and slicked back. He stared at the SDC symbol on his face. He couldn't really hide the scars, he just sighed and accepted them. They would remind him of where he'd come from and the bad times that nearly took over his life. He'd remember the pain of being branded and he'd never let anyone face that same pain. That same pain he'd intentionally brought on others over his skewed beliefs. He stared into his own vibrant blue eyes that stared back at him in the reflection. _If I had just done... anything else! Anything other than what I did... I'd have a brother and sister, a mother and father. A family. We could have been friends. We would've gone to school together... Blake would've been my friend. She..._ Thoughts of what he'd done filled his mind, he grabbed what remain of his horns and broke down. "Ohh... Gods... What have I done?", Adam Branwen groaned.

"You cannot change what has passed, dear son. You can only keep moving forwards. If you hold on to the past for too long, you'll never leave it. And you'll never truly get to live.", Arden mused from the hallway.

"Who are you really? Arden? Arden what? What's your story? How can you know so much and say so little!", Adam asked in utter confusion.

"Ah, that is a long story. Once upon a time, there was a man revered as a priest. He had powers unlike any seen before. He was cast out of his kingdom, and his throne usurped by his corrupt younger brother. Despite this, he still found love in strange places. Love that was lost in his mission to take back his throne. Perhaps it was a mercy killing, for she was injured gravely. And her killer became his lover, for a little piece of his lost one lived inside the other. A fight was fought in the throne room and the man took his kingdom back, but at what cost? Lives were ended and countless died for the man's own vengeance. When you have stared into the darkness, it stares back. And you'll learn from it.", Arden mused.

"You... You're the 'Black King'. The cursed. The Mad...", Adam stuttered.

"Many names, yet I only go by one. Arden Greyblood.", Arden noted.

Adam shuddered. His own actions paled to what the 'Mad King' had done in his mission to take back his kingdom in Vacuo. It was a story children in Atlas were told when they wouldn't behave, a story of an outcast King who murdered thousands of humans and Faunus alike to take back his crown. A man said to have been descended from the God of Darkness himself. An embodiment of chaos and insanity.

Adam stared at Arden's rings for a moment and shuddered again, the 8 rings of power, another fairy-tale about a wizard and his gift to the protectors of Vacuo. Arden wore all of the rings; he'd probably taken them by force. Whatever that force was, it stood in the hallway and stared back at him. He also became painfully aware that he was in close quarters with a mass murderer and he currently had no weapons and was missing his right hand. Arden could literally kill him with a strong fart.

"Why are you helping me!?", Adam asked.

"Ah, child. You may not be my blood, but you are still my son. A doting father makes sure his children stay out of trouble. Besides, you have a mission. A _destiny_ to fulfill.", Arden mused.

"And what the hell would that be? Get killed by my brother and sister!? I have no chance of convincing them I've changed. _Nobody_ changes overnight!", Adam raged.

"Let go of your rage. Let it go and embrace your redemption. If you still follow the path you've walked you'll never be more than a rat in a cage. It's time to take the road less traveled.", Arden mused.

Adam took several deep breaths. He could do this. He could change. He had to do this and he had to change. He'd already learned the truth. His previous life was a lie. He sighed and looked at the Mad King again.

"Alright... How do I do this? I'm missing a hand and I have no clothes or weapons..."

"Well, it seems like it's finally time. Happy birthday, Adam _Branwen_. Here are your gifts.", Arden noted as he handed three wrapped presents to Adam.

Adam took the boxes hesitantly. He opened the first one; it contained a Hyperion RYS-Class prosthetic hand. He set the limb aside and opened the next one. This box was longer and contained a new sword; it was similar to Raven's own and had several interchangeable Dust blades in a circular quiver. He clipped the sword to his belt. The final box was wide and oblong. He opened this one and saw just what he needed; a new uniform. This uniform was light-gray with red accents. It looked like his old one, but lighter in color and heralded his new mission for redemption.

Adam quickly dressed, getting out of the prison garb he'd worn for the past few weeks. He quickly shoved the prosthetic hand onto the stump where his original had been and grunted in pain as it fused with his nerves. He swung the new sword and tested its weight; it was perfect. He looked at the mirror again. He _had_ changed, he didn't see a monster anymore, but a knight. A defender. A hero. Today was the day that Adam Taurus died. Today was the day that Adam Branwen was born. This was the day he'd always waited for.

XXXXX

The Gods of Light and Darkness called to Ozma with a proposal. Return to the world, for something had befallen it. They held out four objects in front of him and described their usage. They could summon the Gods themselves back to the world there were abandoning to bring final judgment on humanity. If humanity learned to live in peace and harmony, the Gods would return to watch over them. If humanity learned nothing, the Gods would destroy the world. Ozma just had to do one simple thing.

The scene seemed to change again in a burst of blue light. Ozma stood in front of a cottage in the woods. Hearing rumors of a witch, he had decided to investigate.

"Whether it be magic or something else, the two recognized each-other immediately.", Jinn noted.

"What do we do now?", Ozma asked.

"We can really do _anything_...", Salem noted.

"Anything?", Ozma asked.

"We can even become the gods themselves. This world lacks faith. And we can become exactly that...", Salem noted.

The scenes began to flash by in sequence. A man and woman wed, a castle, the birth of four girls with the powers of magic... And then an argument.

"Are you sure this is right?", Ozma asked as he looked into the scrying pool. Hundreds of humans protested.

"You said we needed to unite humanity. That is what we are doing. Those who disbelieve our divine powers shall be smitten.", Salem noted.

Ozma looked at his reflection. It seemed to speak to him. _What are we doing?_

"This isn't what I was asked to do...", Ozma said out loud.

"What was that?", Salem asked.

The scene changed again. Ozma told Salem the real reason he was brought back to life. To unite humanity and redeem his fallen. For the sorrow that followed him, he would carry with him forever. Forever being reincarnated into another being, endlessly.

"But don't you see? Why try to unite these _animals_! We can replace them! You've seen our children!", Salem reasoned.

"That isn't the way to do things!", Ozma raged.

"Oh but it is. We were born of the world's destruction. We can _be_ gods! We will rebuild the world in our image and we will control _destiny_!", Salem announced.

"I... I'm sorry...", Ozma said sadly.

The scene changed again, a fight between the two god-like humans filling the castle. Pillars collapsed onto themselves, fire and ice froze and melted. Four small skeletons laid in the dust. Two enemies, once lovers as love turned to violent hatred stood before each-other before the image of Ozma disintegrated into dust on the wind.

"And thus began Ozma's long journey of discovery and reincarnation, for no matter how many times he came back, he could still feel the pull of his lost one.", Jinn noted.

Ozma stood in silence as he held up the Relic of Knowledge and summoned Jinn for the first time. He looked different. It wasn't Professor Ozpin or anyone that Team RWBY knew.

"Where are the other relics?", Ozma asked.

"I gave my answer.", Jinn said. "He asked a few more and did not like what he heard. He came to a decision after hearing the last one."

"How can I kill Salem; can I make sure she's not not dead while I ensure she's probably not dead, but not alive at the same time while making sure that Salem doesn't not die?", Ozma asked.

"You... Uhhh... You can't. Salem cannot be killed.", Jinn stated in mild confusion and annoyance.

Ozma fell to his knees in sadness and resignation. He swore to the skies for his curse and screamed soundlessly as Team RWBY and friends stared on. Oscar Pine just shook in revelation. Qrow drank all of his flask in one gulp. This was not what anyone had wanted ever. Everything bad was happening.

XXXXX

Pyrrha sat with Jaune in the living room of her house again. Pyrrha's mother had left to go and buy more Ouzo at the marketplace and Ren and Nora were doing _something _upstairs that periodically sent a shockwave through the whole house. Jaune's interesting experience at the Temple of Pythia required some explanation. She sat and messed around with her Semblance while Jaune attempted to explain all that he had seen in the pools of mystery.

"Just explain it slowly, Jaune. What did you see?", Pyrrha asked.

"A revelation, pumpkin. I saw it all. This Salem we're supposed to be defeating... She can't be killed. Crazy old wizard Ozzy Ozpin is immortal and had a helluva breakup with a princess some several thousand years ago... Had a bunch of kiddos and all that stuff, but he didn't want to become a god for some reason so he blew them all up. Salem became immortal after getting railed repeatedly by the Gods, then she drank some gooey Grimm juice and got _real_ mad at Ozzy for blowing up her castle. Ozzypin got his immortality by screwing up so badly the Gods felt bad for him and brought him back to unclog the toilet of despair he created. So basically, we gotta clean up Ozzypin's mess by collecting the Relics and summoning the Gods back to the world. And then the Gods are going to smite everyone. Or we could just collect the Relics for ourselves and do _anything_ else.", Jaune explained.

Pyrrha sighed. Had Jaune gone completely mad? She did remember a little bit of what Ozpin had mentioned back in the Vault at Beacon and she did recall the story Qrow had relayed to them as well. Ozpin had his secrets and he was now clearly a compulsive liar as well. She shook her head and adjusted her circlet. Why didn't Ozpin just _tell_ the truth? Why did he have to hide away important things like this? Oh, right. It's because everything they were doing right now was for absolutely fuck-all; Salem can't be killed and the Relics 'need protected'. The Relics are in Vaults! How much more protection could they possibly need!? Ozpin was using them for a means to his own ends! The bigger question was what in all that was holy did Ozpin expect to do once they got all the Relics together? What could he have possibly planned that didn't end with everyone else getting killed? Pyrrha partially wished she'd never gone to Beacon and gotten involved with _this_, but then she wouldn't have met Jaune...

"Jaune... You said you learned something about your Semblance as well... What is it?", Pyrrha asked.

"Oh that's just the thing. We're out of time.", Jaune noted.

"We have plenty to time! What else does it do?", Pyrrha cried.

"That's just it... We're _out_ of time. We're outside of the reaches of time! I can control time itself! Ehh, only like in little bits, though, a few minutes tops. Anything I hold onto comes back in time with me, including people. So we can rob a bank and then just reverse time so it never happened and keep all the money. I can do anything I want with no consequences!", Jaune exclaimed.

"So what you're saying is... We can really do anything?", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, we can really do _anything_! I could pull out _Unforgiven_ and shoot Ren in the face if I wanted to. _You_ can travel back with me as long as we're touching. You don't have to be nice to anyone anymore! We can just keep redoing the whole conversation with whoever until we figure out what works!", Jaune cackled

Pyrrha thought about this for a moment. Jaune could do anything he wanted and it would never cause any real harm. He could kill people and it wouldn't matter, he could just undo it. He could save their lives a hundred times over, she could jump into highway traffic and he'd just reverse time again. It was wrong to do those things, though. Killing people and being mean just for the sake of being mean... But, if she could go back and apologize... Or if she'd never said those mean things before... Life suddenly just got a lot more fun for some reason. She realized she could be as cruel as she wanted and never have to regret a decision; Jaune could always take them back. It was so tough being the 'nice girl' anyways. It felt good to be bad.

"So you see now? You and I, we're no longer pawns of _fate_! Won't you join me?", Jaune said.

Pyrrha felt bad for a moment. _This is wrong. This is so wrong. Jaune is probably crazy. But... He's right. We make our own path. The world is ours and we never have to worry about dying until we both reach old age._ She thought. Pyrrha just took Jaune's hand. Amber, the Fall Maiden within Pyrrha just laughed in sinister delight. Once they found Cinder Fall, Amber could kill her over and over. She could bury her in a thousand graves.

"Yes, Jaune. Let's do this. Let's do _everything."_, Pyrrha said.

For a long time, Pyrrha never wanted to be held on a pedestal. She never wanted any praise for what she had done and she certainly didn't want the attention. All her life, she had just been the best that she could. She'd gotten to where she was through nothing but hard work and training; anyone could do the same. But now? Now it was different.

Pyrrha thought about Jaune and her Maiden abilities, she'd gotten those only because she actually listened to Jaune when he mocked her choice in armor. If she hadn't, then she wouldn't have survived Cinder's attack on Beacon. Jaune would be alone and lost, mourning his beloved and the fight at Haven could've gone worse. She didn't even want to think of what seeing that statue in the park would've done to Jaune, he would have been angry and seeking vengeance. She was painfully aware that even now, Jaune's sanity was being held on by a few threads. But none of that mattered, her _fate_ had been subverted, she had claimed the Fall Maiden's powers for herself and Jaune had unlocked his Semblance, saving her life yet again.

Now she had a reason to be held on a pedestal. She doubted that anyone else could've taken the offer Ozpin had given her. She had unbeatable combat prowess, god-like magical abilities and a boyfriend who could reverse time. She wanted to have that statue now, except she wanted Jaune right next to her on that pedestal. Pyrrha Nikos and Handsome Jaune, together forever as a power far greater.

_I didn't want the attention because I was normal, I just worked really hard. I'm not a normal girl anymore... I'm something greater... Something far greater than I ever imagined...Perhaps I want to be cruel_...

**Chapter End. Adam needed some kind of redemption arc, RT done him bad. Adam Taurus died, but Adam Branwen was born. **

**Been watching the Rising of the Shield Hero. There will be a crossover coming soon since a certain red-haired Spartan bears a rather striking resemblance to another red-haired Bitch. **


	26. Oncoming Storm

XXXXX

Chapter 25: The Oncoming Storm

XXXXX

Sun Wukong backed away suddenly as Team RWBY and friends sprang back to life. Blake backhanded the monkey-man in surprise. Ozcar Pin sat sadly on the ground for some reason. Qrow stood against a tree, and the rest of RWBY stared at each-other in disbelief. Cardin and Russel stood of to the side, they both looked shocked and sad for some other reason. An old woman eyed Sun for a moment before looking away, Sun didn't know where the elderly woman had come from. Maybe she was also on the train when it jumped the tracks.

"So this is it, then. This is us losing. This is what us losing looks like.", Yang noted angrily.

Ozcar sat up for a moment, "Now, Miss Xiao-". He was promptly punched in the face again by Yang.

"You all heard the magic bong genie, right? Salem can't be killed! We can be killed, though! We can all get killed together!", Yang roared, her eyes turned red.

Weiss went over to comfort Yang and maybe cool her down a little bit. Ruby walked over to Ozcar and knelt down next to him.

"Professor, what is your plan for defeating Salem?", Ruby asked quietly.

"I... I don't really have one.", Ozcar noted sadly.

A fist and a glass bottle suddenly slammed into Ozcar Pin and sent him flying. Qrow held onto the object and shook in fury.

"I followed you, Oz! I followed you to hell and back! You gave me a place in this world! I thought I was finally going to be doing something good!", Qrow raged.

"You _are_ doing something good, Qrow!", Ozcar cried.

"We're not doing anything! Anything we do does nothing! The witch can't die, the Relics are already safe and sound and will just call down the fury of the Gods on us if we find them. I'm cursed! You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me besides being born!", Qrow slurred in drunken fury.

Blake stared at the ground and then at Sun. "What are we going to do now?". Sun shrugged.

"We have to keep moving. The storm is picking up and it's going to be dark soon.", Ruby said.

"And we all have to stay calm! All this yelling and bad attitudes is going to attract loads of Grimm.", the old woman, Maria as she had been introduced, said.

"She's right. We can all talk this over when we meet up with Jaune in Argus.", Ruby noted.

Team RWBY and friends began their travel towards the farm Cardin had mentioned. The few of them that were tired or injured rode on the sled and the others walked alongside it, taking turns on and off as to not overburden Yang's motorcycle. Sun walked over to Cardin.

"What's up with you? You don't seem to share the same feelings that everyone else does.", Sun said.

"I guess the others just saw whatever they asked. I don't care about Ozpin or any of that nonsense, I just care about my friends and family... I saw something else.", Cardin noted.

"What did you see?", Sun asked.

"Well...", Cardin began to say. A few images flashed through his head. He had asked where the rest of his team was. He hadn't seen them since the Fall of Beacon and simply assumed they'd made it out of the carnage like he did. Jinn had shown him what had happened to them. He saw bronze and gold armor laid to rest in the dust, a skeletal hand clutching a sword. A small belt buckle with a dove on it around the skeleton's waist. Grimm walked around the ruined landscape. Cardin also saw a small memorial, a set of ruined dark-gray armor next to it. A memorial to a cowardly boy who had stood up in the darkest moments, fought and had fallen like so many others during the Fall of Beacon. "...I saw what great things my Team did.", Cardin said shedding a bitter tear to his lost friends.

"Oh... I see...", Sun said quietly. He thought briefly about his own Team off on their own adventures. He knew where Scarlet was, but wondered where Sage and Neptune had gone. He hoped they were still alive out there.

XXXXX

In a dimly lit cave, Roman Torchwick made his escape. He'd waited until the _thing_ had gone to sleep. He tip-toed slowly out of the cave and towards Neo, who stood near the entrance.

"...", Neo said.

"Shh... She's... sleeping?", Torchwick noted. He looked back at 'Cinder' and shuddered. Cinder Fall was now almost completely Grimm. Her skin had become white and cracked like an eggshell revealing jet-black flesh underneath. Cinder's legs had elongated and bent backwards, giving her a double-jointed knee. Her hands were now four-fingered claws and her feet matched with claws almost 7 inches in length. Cinder's tattered dress still clung to her body, now stained with blood and grime. The previously short horns had grown into long white ones like that of a Satyr, twisting upwards into points. Cinder Grimm slept restlessly.

"...", Neo stated as she pointed away from the cave and towards a waiting airship.

"Good idea.", Torchwick noted.

The sound of the airship departing awoke Cinder Grimm from her slumber. Orange burning eyes scanned the now empty cave in anger. She stood up, now almost 2 meters in height and let out a roar.

Torchwick grabbed his hat in fear and attempted to pull the headgear over his face. A roar filled his ears, it sounded like a low guttural growl combined with the wail of a woman in agony before climbing into a primal crescendo. He just turned and looked at Neo who was currently trying to hide inside his coattails. He just pulled the tiny girl into an embrace and stared at the cave as it quickly disappeared as their airship sped away.

XXXXX

Ren and Nora sat on Pyrrha's couch. They wore different clothing, deciding to wear their old outfits from their time at Beacon for some reason. Both of them seemed out of breath. Pyrrha sat across from them and Jaune took center stage.

"Right, so Pyrrha and I went to a Temple. A normal Temple, not a special one or anything. And we figured some stuff out.", Jaune noted.

"Was it a fertility temple?", Nora asked.

"No!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"It was a Temple of _Destiny_. Or something. I saw some things. Basically we're screwed, Salem can't be killed and Ozpin is a compulsive liar. The only thing those Relics do when put together is ensure the old Gods are coming back and killing us all, so we've decided to go and get them for ourselves. We're going to keep them from both Ozpin and Salem. We're going to have to play along with the old man so he doesn't think we've turned on him. Also, Pyrrha is a Maiden and I am a Time lord.", Jaune noted.

"You're a what?", Nora asked.

"I'm the lord of time. My Semblance can control the flow of time. I can reverse it by a few moments and anything I have in physical contact goes back with me. That includes people.", Jaune said.

"Ohh... So that's why you were so mad at Rhames on the train. You could've prevented Ruby's section from derailing.", Ren extrapolated.

"Can you give us an example?", Nora asked.

"Of course!", Jaune said. He immediately pulled out _Unforgiven_ and shot Nora in the head and killed her. _"Wait... That didn't work. She can't see it if she's dead..."_, Jaune thought as he froze time; his teammates had recoiled in horror and pulled their weapons on him. There was a blur and a shattering of the scene in his vision and he was back in time again.

"Can you give us an example?", Nora asked.

"Of course! Rhames is going to come through that door and he's going to split his bounty with us. He's been working as a Huntsman and he'll ask if we have any booze.", Jaune said.

As if by magic, Rhames walked through the front door. "Ah, hey guys. Just got back from my mission. I got paid a lot and we had a rule on Team MRJJ... Always share the loot, so I'm splitting the reward with you guys."

Jaune motioned to Rhames' entrance.

"Also, I know you guys are a little young, but do you have any beer? Or wine? I need to relax, the life of a Huntsman is rough.", Rhames asked.

"My mother has some Ouzo in the kitchen. Please don't drink all of it.", Pyrrha noted.

"Oh my gosh! You _can_ see the future!", Nora exclaimed, completely oblivious to Jaune's previous actions.

"That is incredible. Have you used your Semblance for anything notable?", Ren asked.

"Yeah, well... I guess I saved Pyrrha's life a few times. Kept her from getting horribly killed and stuff...", Jaune said.

"Ooh! You can do that?", Nora said.

"I can save all of you from certain death. Go ahead, go ahead and shoot Ren right now. I'll just zip us back and nothing will have ever happened!", Jaune said.

"Nooo... I can't do that! That's just mean!", Nora said.

"Yeah, but you could. We could just go around killing everyone and then reversing time so it didn't happen. Do you know how cathartic that would be?", Jaune stated.

"It sounds like you've done this already, Jaune.", Ren noted.

"Ehh, it doesn't matter. So what do you think? Let's grab the Relics for ourselves and hide them away. Screw Ozpin and Salem, let's just do this ourselves. The old man couldn't be arsed to help us, so we're taking control of our _destiny_!", Jaune said.

"I don't know... Pyrrha what are your thoughts?", Ren asked.

"Well, we should really wait until RWBY is here to make a final decision. But, that doesn't mean we should just sit around and do nothing. We can really do anything! Why don't we make sure we have safe passage to Atlas?", Pyrrha noted.

"Sounds like a plan.", Ren said.

"Yeah, they're not gonna let us through. There aren't any ships coming in.", Rhames noted.

"Well, I guess we're just going to see if we can change their minds...", Jaune noted.

XXXXX

Emerald, Mercury and Grimm:Lock finally stood in Vacuo, the endless sands stretching out before them. They had boarded a boat to Vale and watched as a tortoise Faunus beat up a rotund plumber in the middle of the town square. Vale City had been mostly rebuilt, but the Plumber's Union and the Constructor's Union still waged some kind of war with each-other. Emerald used her Semblance and hid the group long enough to avoid the drama; it seemed that Professor Peach had a short relationship with the Plumber in question and her new boyfriend took offense to that and had apparently insulted the stout tradesman in some way.

After leaving the dramatic drama club of Vale City, Emerald and Mercury and their new best friend Grimm:Lock boarded a train to Vacuo. Their trip was restless as another group in the room next to them continuously argued with each-other about everything. The words, 'learn by doing' were burned into Emerald's mind as it was the only thing the group screamed about. Mercury was also kept awake by the same loud banter next door and recounted that one of the members in the room was referred to as the 'guy who screwed the whole team'.

After the horrible train ride, the three minions disembarked at the 'End of Line' train station outside of Shade Academy. Emerald looked at their map.

"It looks like it's just a short walk to the Academy. We'll be there in no time!", she announced.

"Uhh, Em. We're in the middle of the desert and it's like, as hot as the surface of the sun here.", Mercury replied.

"Grimm:Lock think heat nice!", the large Faunus announced.

"Em, let's just rent a car. There's a kiosk over there with car rentals.", Mercury pleaded.

"Fine.", Emerald relented.

Emerald and Mercury approached the kiosk, it was a small electronic screen and it displayed several off-road vehicles for rent. Emerald pressed the first button for a 3 seater.

"Oh whoa! Who is this unauthorized person tryin' to use my kiosk!? You have to be Huntsman Certified to use Scooter's vehicles!", an electronic voice said in a sleazy redneck drawl.

"Goddammit!", Emerald cursed.

"Screw it! Let's just steal one-", Mercury said as he grabbed one of the vehicles and was immediately electrocuted into unconsciousness.

Emerald let out a loud groan of exasperation. "Grimm...Lock? Just grab Mercury and drag him along. I guess we're walking...".

Grimm:Lock just grabbed Mercury by his arm and dragged him along. Sand was quickly packed into Mercury's underpants as the simpleton Faunus obeyed her instructions literally. Emerald sighed and just started walking.

XXXXX

Taiyang cursed incoherently under his breath. He was forced to come to the train station. He was forced to meet up with some younger Huntsmen. He was forced to pay for his own return tickets to Vale and then back to Patch. He held onto his Bo staff that doubled as a rifle and walked reluctantly to meet his new teammates.

"Oh come on!", a voice yelled.

"What!? I'm not Rhames, but I think I'm just as good!", another rebuked.

"Guys, I hope our new guy is competent. We should've 'learned by doing'.", another voice squawked.

Taiyang just approached the three 'Huntsmen' cautiously. Raven hadn't given him any information other than there would be a big one, and angry one, and a birdie one. He looked at the 8ft tall goliath of a man, the shorter and angrier one and the pigeon Faunus. He sighed for a long time and felt as if Raven was punishing him in some way.

"Hey, guys! I'm Tai, I guess I'm your new teammate?", he announced.

"Oh great, look at this! We're working with the elderly now!?", the shorter angrier one noted.

"I'm not _that_ old...", Tai said.

"Minstrel, have some respect!", the larger one said.

"Jonk, he's old. He's older than that Qrow guy we met. Look at his zip-off Dad shorts!", the angry one noted.

"Guys, that's Tie-angle uhh... Zoo-Ling? He's a well known Huntsman from Patch!", the bird Faunus stated, butchering Taiyang's name.

"It's Taiyang Xiao-Long! And I'm not as old as Qrow!", Tai yelled.

"Javelin, we got it. He has a weird name and he's even older than we thought. Welcome aboard Team Mirage!", Jonk announced.

Taiyang just sighed and hoped his train ride to Vacuo would be one of peace and getting to know his new teammates. It wasn't. They all bickered so loudly the group in the room next to them banged on the door repeatedly requesting them to be quieter. They only got louder. The poor girl on the other side of the door just broke down into loud sobs that could be heard through the walls. Taiyang felt a little sorry for all of this.

XXXXX

In Atlas, General Ironwood paced around his office. He had sent out a few requests to various corporations for 'designs' for new 'incarceration services'. Merlot Industries had responded first with a long and detailed letter regarding why there weren't able to perform the 'tasks' that were required; the letter was also filled with euphemisms about Ironwood needing to oil his iron wood. Tassiter Arc currently sat patiently in the office.

"Arc, have you made any progress?", Ironwood asked.

"Why, yes. We have. We've created a... 'Moonshot Cannon' of sorts. It can fire a small capsule directly into geo-stationary orbit around the planet. You'll never have to worry about criminals escaping! Because they won't!", Tassiter Arc noted.

Ironwood scratched his head at this. It would _probably _work against the target Ozpin and everyone else was trying to defeat. He stroked his chin in consideration, but then remembered that Tassiter Arc was the psychopath who genetically engineered a diamond-encrusted pony for his son's birthday.

"Have you _tested_ this?", Ironwood asked.

"Have I tested it? Of course! Uhh, by the way I hope you don't expect the 'Sorceress' Adel back anytime soon. We sorta lost track of her pod after launch... I'm sure she'll be fine!", Tassiter stated.

"Tassiter, you idiot! She was supposed to be the next in line Maid- err... She was very special to me. Find her!", Ironwood bellowed.

"Right away... Yep. Definitely...", Tassiter Arc mused.

High above the planet, Adel hurtled through orbit at almost 22k miles per hour. She screamed as the view of the planet and the stars strobed against the view port of her pod as it tumbled end over end.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, back in Argus, Team JNPR headed down to the docks of Argus. Rhames lead them there himself; he'd been there previously and had hunted a 'suspicious individual'. A long bridge lead across to the Atlas military base on a small island adjacent to the mainland. The base was built into a rocky outcropping and had a few other islands tied into its property. The group of Huntsmen approached the main gate of the base.

"They're not going to let us in. I already asked.", Rhames noted.

"Yeah, they won't let you through because you're just some random Huntsman. I'm Atlas nobility! They absolutely cannot refuse the Heir of Hyperion. If they do, then I'll buy them out and turn this base into a shoe store or something!", Jaune noted.

"Well, I guess we'll just follow your lead, Jaune. You're the Team Leader... Just don't do anything stupid.", Ren noted.

Jaune went first, two guards took notice of him and ran over to him. The guards were wearing rather exaggerated outfits that seemed almost too big for them. They looked like a bunch of idiots.

"Halt! This area is restricted!", the one guard said.

"Nobody move!", the other guard said.

"Yeah, great. Hey. I'm Jaune Arc and I write your paychecks, now lemme through!", Jaune said.

"Jaune Arc!?", the guards both said in unision.

"Yeah, that's me. Now open the gate and step aside. I have important business in Atlas.", Jaune said snidely.

"Do you have identification!? We will need you Atlas ID and serial number!", the guards announced.

"Oh for the love of...", Jaune cursed. He searched his wallet, but didn't find his ID. He must've left it in his bags back on the train. "Nope, you don't need that. I _own_ you. You're gonna let me through."

"No entry without ID!", the guards refused.

"Oh come on! Open the friggin' gate!", Jaune raged.

Pyrrha stepped forwards and turned to the guards.

"We're in a hurry. We need to get to Atlas. I'm a... I'm a Maiden and I need to make sure General Ironwood is protected.", she said as she flourished her Maiden powers. The guards stepped back in awe. Jaune smiled as he knew they had won.

"No ID. No Entry! We do not take 'party tricks' as proper authentication!", the guards refused.

Jaune simply stared at the guards in exasperation. Were they serious? He'd make sure once they got to Atlas, he'd buy out this base and fill it with funny costumed characters, then he'd make them dance for him every time he was there.

"Alright! Great! Success! You're pissing me off! Here's your _PRIZE!", _Jaune yelled as he pulled out _Unforgiven_ and shot the first guard in the face. He turned and shot the other guard as well as he turned to his fallen comrade.

"Pyrrha, kill these idiots!", Jaune raged.

Pyrrha's Maiden powers burst forth like a tidal wave of destruction as the entire military supplement descended on Team JNPR. Diamond weapons were conjured and lightning struck out against the waves of Atlas soldiers that came to defend the gate. Everything was going relatively well until Nora was shot to death. Then Ren fell, also succumbing to a hail of bullets fired from a battalion of Atlesian Knights. Rhames still fought on, he used his ring and conjured the ancient powers within. Thing were going badly. If they died here, Ruby and her own team would most likely be run out of town just for knowing them. Jaune reached outwards and froze time again. He held onto Pyrrha's arm as he did so.

"This didn't work. Plan B!", Jaune noted as he swirled the Spartan back in time a few moments.

Pyrrha noticed as tunnel-vision narrowed her sight and her and the view of the battle began to blur. There was an effect like shattering glass and the furious battle scene exploded into shards. For a moment, she saw Jaune standing alone and sad at her statue, tears crept from his eyes in remembrance to the fallen spartan. Another blur and she was back in time with him. Jaune still held onto her shoulder.

"No ID. No Entry! We do not take 'party tricks' as proper authentication!", the guards refused.

"Alright... Great... Success! You're really pissing me off. Go get your superior officer!", Jaune raged.

"If you insist! You will not be allowed entry!", the guards rebuked.

The two strange guards hopped away in unison both chanting 'hup' and 'atlas' as they ran into the base. Team JNPR was left alone at the front gates.

"I have a feeling that a frontal assault will only get us killed. Let's try to be diplomatic.", Pyrrha noted.

"Gee, I wonder what made you think that?", Jaune said.

Ren, Nora and Rhames just stared at the duo.

"You tried that just now, didn't you?", Ren said.

"Maybe? Maybe not.", Pyrrha said.

"What the hell is going on!?", Rhames asked.

"Oh, nothing. Jaune can control time. It's his Semblance. He can do stupid stuff and just reverse time so he didn't do stupid stuff. It also means he and Pyrrha can do _other_ stuff over and over...", Nora stated.

"Ooookay... Should I wonder what the _other_ stuff is?", Rhames noted.

"Nope! It's just stuff they can't do at Pyrrha's mom's house!", Nora exclaimed.

Rhames just stared at the Gunslinger and the Spartan strangely and then caught on. He facepalmed and took sudden interest in the ground.

Tiny fast footsteps heralded the arrival of the Argus Base's commander in chief. A very small and old woman stood at about knee height on the other side of the gate. She looked smug and didn't pay much attention to the group of Huntsmen on the other side.

"You cannot enter. And you are not allowed passage to Atlas. End of story. Go home.", the short woman announced.

"Oh hey! Auntie Cordovin, pleasure to see you here! Let's have a nice _civil_ chat.", Jaune goaded.

Cordovin shuddered, it was Jaune Arc. The boy who had found her to be interesting, if interesting meant an interesting object with which to play a brand new game called 'gnome tossing'. It involved physically throwing her as far as possible. A game that soon followed her to her professional career as she was tossed as far from Atlas itself as possible while still being within their government.

"Oh, Jauney! It's been so long! How are you? I'm sorry... I've just dealt with a lot of riffraff over the past few months...", Cordovin apologized.

"So how about you let us through to Atlas. If you don't... Then I think when I finally get _back_ to Atlas, you're going to have a new career. A great career as an _athlete_. I think I'm going to call it Cordovin Ball. You get to be the ball.", Jaune said.

Cordovin shuddered again. She wouldn't last more than a few weeks in Jaune's new 'sport'. She did like her career in Argus and it meant she could enjoy her few months until retirement relatively stress-free. If she refused, she would get early retirement, but she would also be very dead.

"Y-Yes. Of course. When do you want to leave for Atlas? We can leave right now!", Cordovin stuttered.

"Well, I was just here to make sure you were going to let us through, that's all. I have some more friends who are trying to get to Atlas and we need your full cooperation. If you refuse...", Jaune said.

"No! Not a problem at all! Everyone is welcome! Even the Faunus! Just find me directly when you want to leave! Please...", Cordovin said.

"And I thank you! I'll be leaving now. Have fun.", Jaune said.

Jaune turned and walked away from the gate. He grinned at his teammates and lead them away from the military base. Pyrrha just gave a subtle smile and followed him away. Ren and Nora stood in mild surprise and Rhames had no idea what had just happened.

Behind them, Cordovin turned to the two dumbstruck guards.

"What!? I used to babysit him. He's a monster! I've got 4 months until retirement and I'm not going to let him ruin this for me! Treat him like he's royalty, for gods sake!", Cordovin exclaimed.

The two guards took their orders. "At once! He is royalty! He _is_ Atlas!".

Cordovin shook her head. She was actually missing her arch-rival and her cashews for some reason. _"Only four more months... Then I can retire. Only four more months... Then I can retire to a nice tropical land where nothing ever happens and drinks flow like rivers..."_, Cordovin thought.

**Chapter End. Remnant is dark and full of terrible things. 2 new things. Out of time and out of mind. **

**I am currently editing and re-uploading my earlier works: RWBYlands: The Huntsmen Collection. I also post on Reddit r/FNKI regularly for fun. Look for u/C4PTNK0R34, that's me. I'm the crazy British/Korean/American guy in a wizard hat.**


	27. Farming Grimmulator

XXXXX

Chapter 26: Farming Grimmulator

XXXXX

Team RWBY, Sun, Ozpin, Qrow, Cardin, Russel and Old Maria slowly rode into the small farm. Yang's motorcycle was out of fuel. Everyone was tired and begging for some kind of rest.

A small farming community sprawled out in front of them. It was quaint and several farmers and farmhands milled about. A man ran over to them and introduced himself.

"Oh hey there! Welcome to Brunswick Farms, the Greatest Farm in Mistral! I'm Bartleby and I welcome you! Make yourselves at home. We have food and fuel, beds and showers and all that you'd ever need!", the man exclaimed.

"Uhh... Hey. We're not from around here...", Sun hesitated. Bartleby was overly friendly.

"Of course! We don't get many travelers, but you can stay in my farmhouse! We'll make you dinner!", Bartleby noted.

"That sounds like a great idea. We're all tired and hungry from our travels. We're trying to get to Argus.", Ruby noted.

"Oh. Argus? You're going to have trouble getting there. The tunnels collapsed years ago. The farm has been cut off for almost two decades... Don't worry, though. We can help you get there! We'll get you straight to the marketplace!", Bartleby exclaimed.

"I guess we're staying the night. The storm is picking up...", Blake noted.

"Make yourselves at home! Feel free to wander about and meet my friends and family! Just stay away from Old Man Harrison, he's crazy!", Bartleby said.

XXX

A few hours later, Team RWBY and friends had settled into the main farmhouse. Qrow had disappeared after finding out that the house had an open bar and Maria had taken to the home's library to read and entertain herself; Ozcar Pin went along with her in an attempt to distance himself from the rest of his former students. Sun and Blake walked around the farm.

"Sun, we're on a mission. We have to fight this being called Salem. She's the queen of the Grimm. And she cannot be killed. As in she can't die... At all. Ozpin... He's been hiding the truth from us for so long. I don't even know how we're going to continue!", Blake lectured.

Sun was only beginning to understand what was going on. He'd been unconscious after the train had derailed and missed the whole fiasco with the 'Magic Bong'.

"Well, Blake. The only thing we can do is keep moving forwards. Even if Salem can't be killed, does she need to die? Can't we just talk to her or something?", Sun asked.

"I don't know! I don't know how badly Ozpin screwed up, I don't know if we even have the ability to say anything before she kills us all!", Blake said.

"Hey... I'm here for you if you need me. We're friends. Friends help each-other.", Sun noted.

"I guess... I just-", Blake stuttered for a moment, she had seen someone or something in the distance. She saw a figure wielding a sword and motioning towards her. The figure wore light grey clothing and motioned with its sword towards the farmhouse before pulling the blade up to its head and holding it at its throat as if to say that returning to the house would mean death. "Uhhh..."

"Blake? What's wrong?", Sun asked.

Blake turned back to Sun for a moment before looking back. The figure was gone.

"Nothing. It's nothing, Sun.", Blake said.

"It's definitely something. Remember what I told you about not telling your friends what's going on?", Sun noted.

"I... I thought I saw someone out there... They had a sword. I don't think they want us to stay here...", Blake said.

"Did you recognize who it was? Are we in danger!?", Sun asked.

"I... I don't know. I think I just need some rest. It almost looked like Adam, but... Something was different. I don't think they wanted to hurt us.", Blake said hesitantly.

"Well, I think we definitely need rest. Adam is in jail, he's not going to be getting out for a long, looooong time.", Sun reassured.

Sun and Blake walked the farm for a little while longer. Blake's ears perked at every sound. She couldn't get the feeling that she was being watched out of her mind.

XXX

Far across the farm in the barn, Yang had been provided some fuel for her motorcycle and slowly began pour in the much-needed gas from the jerry-cans. She hummed to herself calmly, remembering a peppy tune from a club in Vale.

"You shouldn't be here. You need to leave as soon as possible.", a gravelly voice said.

Yang turned around and found an elderly man with a cane staring at her.

"Whoa, who are you!?", Yang exclaimed. "You can't just sneak up on people like that!"

"Harrison. You can call me that. If you know what's good for you, you'll get out of here as soon as you have enough fuel in that bike. Everyone here is crazy. Don't let them fool you with their hospitality!", Old Man Harrison noted.

Yang just stared at the old man. He reeked of alcohol more than Qrow did and was obviously paranoid. She continued to pour in gas.

"Girl. People wander in here all the time. They never get to where they're going though. They're always coming, but never leaving. It's the dinner. The people here will make you dinner...", Harrison noted.

"Uh yeah. I got that. I'm a little busy here...", Yang said as she ignored the old creeper. She really didn't have time to talk to crazy old men. She had enough crazy old men in her life right now.

XXX

On another side of the farm, Ruby and Weiss argued with each-other. Weiss currently held onto the Relic and held it over Ruby's head. Ruby jumped around and tried to grab the glowing blue lamp.

"Weiss! We can't just ditch the Relic! We need to take it to Atlas! It needs to be protected!", Ruby squeaked.

"Ruby. It was protected... In a vault. If Salem was looking for it and she knew where it was, she still couldn't have gotten it without a Maiden. We could just toss it down the well. Nobody would find it and this would all just be over. It might take decades for Salem to find it. We won't have to fight any silly wars for Ozpin.", Weiss contemplated.

"We can't! It's safer in our hands than anyone else! Ozpin might be a liar, but we don't know what will happen if Salem gets it. We know that the Relic attracts Grimm and that Salem is the queen of the Grimm. She'll find it and then she'll destroy the world!", Ruby argued.

Ruby jumped up with her Semblance this time and knocked the Relic from Weiss' hands. It fell directly down the well into the darkness.

"Agh! No! Weiss, I'm going down there to get it back. I don't care what you think!", Ruby exclaimed as she jumped down the well after the lamp.

Weiss sighed and climbed into the well after Ruby. She didn't really care about the relic, but she did care about the perky goth who was inexplicably her team leader.

XXX

Back in the farmhouse, Maria had found some interesting books to read. It was a series of journals written by the homeowner, Bartleby. Ozcar sat next to her, Maria was the only one who didn't seem to outwardly hate him at the moment and handed him one of the journals to read.

"The tunnels are gone. We're all stuck here. That Huntsman from Argus saved us from the White Fang, but now we have no way into town. We have enough food here for a few more weeks, but we can't grow enough to feed the community. Going to have to think of something soon...", the Journal entry read.

Maria read on. It seems that almost two decades ago, a Huntsman by the name of Epimetheus Nikos had given his life to save the small community from the White Fang and their attacks during the height of the Faunus Revolution. Maria had heard the name _Nikos_ before and pondered for a moment where she recalled it. She shook her head and kept reading.

"Out of food now. Only have a few cans of beans left. People are starving. Harrison said there was a convoy from Mistral coming in a few days. Hopefully they have some food...", the Journal read.

Maria scratched her head. It seemed like whatever issue plagued the town had been resolved. Bartleby was overly happy and it seemed like the town was thriving. He had mentioned the tunnels were still inaccessible, though. Maybe the travelers from Mistral City established trade, but the little farm wasn't on any maps. She continued to read on.

"They brought five men and four horses. Traders brought weapons, bought them all. We needed food, but they didn't have some. They needed a place to stay, so we gave them some. We made them dinner. Have food enough for the next few months now. A man's gotta eat.", the Journal entry read.

Maria read the journal entry again. They had no food, yet made the traders dinner? It didn't make a lot of sense. She kept reading. The journal entries were getting stranger.

"No crops. More travelers. Made them dinner. No crops. More travelers. Made them dinner. It's so cold. No crops. Made dinner. Met some campers. Made them dinner. Tunnels are still closed. Harrison knows.", the journal entry read.

Maria scratched her head again. So much about no crops, yet so much dinner making. Where were they getting the food from? She kept reading...

"Harrison knows. Harrison wants us to die here. Harrison is insane. More travelers came and we made them dinner. We don't need crops anymore. A family is a family and a family needs to survive in any way possible. Heard a train derailed, more travelers. Going to make them dinner. Tasty dinner.", the entry read.

Maria was starting to catch on. She looked at Ozcar sitting next to her. Ozcar stared back at her, Maria was almost certain they had to leave. They had to leave right now. Hesitantly, she read the most recent entry.

"They brought a motorcycle. A vehicle. An old woman, four girls and four boys and an old drunkard. Gonna make them dinner. Gonna have a tasty dinner. One is a Faunus, the best kind. A very tasty dinner. More weapons for the harvest. A vehicle to sell. Money and dinner. Tasty. Eat Faunus. Tasty dinner.", the entry read.

Maria's eyes widened in sudden realization. _They_ were going to be the dinner. Bartleby was arguably insane from being locked inside for too long. All the travelers met had become Bartleby's dinner. That's why they didn't need crops anymore! She slowly shut the book and put it back on the shelf and turned to Ozcar.

"We need to leave. We can weather the storm. This place isn't safe.", Maria noted.

Ozcar just nodded and put his book down. He'd need to go an fetch Qrow from whatever stupor he was currently in.

XXX

Down in the well, Ruby searched frantically for the Relic. It glowed a faint blue and she ran in the darkness squinting and looking for the light. She splashed around in the shallow water, following the flow until she saw the glint of blue light and headed towards the source.

Weiss followed behind Ruby, the little perky goth ran around in different directions. She had a helluva time keeping up with her. She blamed the spontaneity on Ruby's sugar intake and sighed.

Ruby slowly walked around the corner and found the Relic. It had floated down the waterflow and embedded itself into a rut. She picked it up and turned it over to make sure it was still safe.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be down here!", a voice yelled.

Ruby turned towards the voice and saw a hellish sight. It was Bartleby, in a butcher's apron, standing in front of a table. He held a cleaver above his head and had previously been cutting meat. The meat looked exactly like a human arm. She glanced around the scene and noticed a few human legs, a torso, more arms and a few heads hanging from hooks in this grotesque room.

"Ah! Aaaagghh! Aaaaauuuughhh!", Ruby screamed in revelation.

"Ruby? What's wrong-", Weiss cut off as she rounded the corner and saw the same grisly room.

"Guess you're not looking for a snack...", Bartleby noted as he began to walked slowly and deliberately towards the two girls.

"Ruby! Let's go!", Weiss yelled as she pulled Ruby and the Relic back around the corner. She attempted to find the well that they had climbed down, but couldn't. This place was like a maze and they were trapped in it.

XXX

Back in the barn, Old Man Harrison hadn't left Yang alone. He rambled on incoherently until he said something even weirder.

"It's the virus. Something Barty tried to use to keep us from starving. They're all infected. Got bit by one of _them_ and they turn every night. Need meat to survive. Any meat will do. Don't let his cheerful appearance fool you. He's not what he seems...", Harrison rambled.

"And what do you mean by that!?", Yang asked.

"It's the Grimm. They have many forms. They're all Grimm now. Wasn't like this before, but after he got a taste... Everyone is dinner.", Harrison said.

"Yang! Is that thing refueled!? We're leaving!", Maria called from across the yard.

"It is, but...", Yang said.

"Get it hitched up and find your friends! We need to leave now!", Maria stated.

XXX

Ruby and Weiss ran from Bartleby, he was insane. They were going to become dinner. Of course the happy little farm was full of cannibals, it was just their luck. They ran from corridor to corridor looking for an exit but were greeted with more crazed townsfolk. It was as if the whole town was suddenly against them. Weiss shuddered as an inhuman howl echoed through the sewers.

"Find them. Make dinner", Bartleby called out from further down the sewers. His voice was strange and sounded more like an animal imitating a human voice.

Weiss ignored Bartleby for now and continued to follow Ruby. The two of them soon found a set of stairs with a large set of doors at the top. Ruby ran up them in a hurry and attempted to fling the doors open. They were locked. Ruby tried again, the footsteps of multiple sets of people getting louder.

"It won't open! Weiss, we're trapped!", Ruby screamed.

"Ruby! Try harder! They're coming!", Weiss yelled.

"No. Room to run. You brought. Yourselves. To our dinner. Table...", Bartleby stuttered in an inhuman growl.

Ruby and Weiss turned to Bartleby, he was no longer human and resembled a half-human and half-beowolf Grimm. Ruby beat on the doors and screamed for anyone to open them. Weiss just hoped there weren't any more of these things waiting for them. It seemed like the whole happy town was down here in the sewers.

As Weiss turned away from Bartleby, another one of the townsfolk pounced on her, large powerful jaws clamping down on her throat. "Ruby!", Weiss cried.

"Weiss!", Ruby screamed as the room was suddenly filled with light. The Half-Grimm that held Weiss let go and jumped backwards. Weiss quickly recovered and ran back over to Ruby as they both beat on the doors.

The doors suddenly split open, cut in a cross shape. The fragments of doors flew backwards over Ruby and Weiss' heads. Daylight streamed into the dimly lit room. Ruby gasped in surprise, a man stood in front of them. He wore grey clothing and wielded a katana. He stared at them with burning blue eyes. Ruby didn't know who this was. Weiss just cried out in shock.

"Get out of here!", the man yelled. Ruby and Weiss ran past the man and quickly found themselves outside of a small shed on the outskirts of Brunswick Farms. Ruby looked back at the man as they fled, she saw him raise his sword and cut downwards.

"You shall not pass!", the man yelled as he cleaved into the corrupted townsfolk, his attack causing the small shed to collapse onto him.

Ruby and Weiss ran. They ran back towards the farmhouse where they saw Old Maria dragging a drunken Qrow out the front doors. Yang, Sun, Ozcar and Blake already rode on the small sled attached to Bumblebee.

"Leggo of me! I wasn't done yet!", Qrow slurred. Yang leaped off of her motorcycle and grabbed Qrow by his shirt and threw him onto the sled face first.

"Ruby! Weiss! We're leaving now! Get on!", Yang called. Ruby and Weiss jumped onto the sled as Yang hammered the throttle and pulled them away.

"Guys! We're missing Cardin and Russel!", Sun yelled as the small farm began to disappear behind them.

"It's too late for them! They're already _dinner_!", Weiss shouted.

Qrow just stared off the back of the sled as several humanoid creatures stared them down. Half-human Grimm. He recoiled in shock as a katana cleaved through one of the creatures. A mace and sword cut a few more down. Three figures behind them fought bravely as Yang drove Bumblebee farther and farther away.

XXX

Cardin Winchester dusted himself off. He'd fought Grimm before, but nothing like this. Innocent townsfolk that were actually Grimm in disguise? He watched as the yellow motorcycle disappeared into the distance and left him among the ruin. He turned towards the man with the katana.

"Who are you!?", Cardin asked.

"A man of no consequence.", the man responded.

"How are we going to get out of here!?", Russel asked.

"Well. I have an interesting method...", the man responded as a portal opened behind him. "Why don't we have a nice little chat..."

Cardin and Russel shrugged. The strange man had just saved their lives. They hesitantly followed the man through the portal and found themselves in a town they had never seen before. It had a small doctor's office, a rather risque pub, a large mechanic's shop and a large stronghold towered over them.

**Chapter End. Brunswick Farms is Andale from FO3. Probably the worst chapter to write so far. I don't want to rewrite the whole Apathy Grimm thing, it was entirely too good in its original form. Next one coming up soon.**


	28. Broken Dreams

XXXXX

Chapter 27: Of Bastards and Broken Dreams

XXXXX

Raven Branwen paced around the bottom floor of her stronghold. Doctor Stannis stood over a table and carefully studied a map. Arden Greyblood leaned against the wall across from the Faunus and flipped a coin in his hand. The sound of a portal opening pulled their attention.

"And the prodigal son has returned! Have you found what you have been looking for?", Arden asked.

"Not really. I found them, but I didn't have time to apologize. They were attacked by Grimm.", Adam noted.

"Hm. And they survived? Or have you returned with _bad news_?", Arden mused. Raven just stared at Adam.

"I fought the Grimm. They're safe for now. I suppose I'll have to meet them in Argus. I did bring some 'new recruits', though.", Adam said.

"Ah, the best. Well then, bring them in!", Arden called.

Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush hesitantly entered the stronghold. Cardin noted Raven Branwen, the fabled Bandit Queen and the Mad King himself standing in the room.

"Oh.", Cardin said.

"Welcome to the Scarlet Raiders. I'm Raven. This is Arden and Stannis. I recognize you. You're one of the students from Beacon. You're going to fit in just right, don't worry.", Raven stated.

"And _this_ is Adam Branwen. The man who killed Adam Taurus.", Arden noted.

Cardin and Russel stepped back. If the strange man who'd helped them had killed the terrorist Adam Taurus, then they were in the company of some very powerful Huntsmen. Cardin immediately bent the knee to his new 'friends'.

"No need for that. If you want to leave, you're welcome to. I just want you to hear me out first. Then you can make your own decisions. I'm sure you're wondering _why_ Ozpin has so many 'followers' around the world.", Raven said.

Cardin and Russel just nodded as Raven began to regale them with a tale.

XXXXX

A Few Days Ago...

XXXXX

Outside of a cave, an inhuman creature hastily attempted to disguise itself. It had killed any travelers that passed the cave without remorse and wore their clothing in an attempt to hide away the Grimm plague that cursed it.

Cinder Grimm wore a dirty brown robe over her disfigured form, tying the robe around her waist. She shoved her clawed feet into a pair of oversized boots and shoved her equally deadly hands into a set of armored gloves and bracers. She grabbed a scrap of cloth from another dead traveler and tied it over her mouth, hiding her corrupted face as best as she could. She glanced into the water inside the cave and saw her reflection and decided that this was as best as she was going to do. She had a mission: Kill Torchwick and Neo for abandoning her, kill all of the Huntsmen from Beacon, kill Ozpin again, and kill anyone who threatened her. Then go back to Salem and rule as the Grimm Queen's right hand.

X

That was a few days ago, Cinder Grimm had made her way to a small shanty town with corrugated metal covering most of the buildings and streets. She noted a small tavern with a spider web symbol on it and entered. Her heightened Grimm senses could smell Emerald and Mercury's presence here. She'd have to find her minions as well.

A fat woman sat at a small table in the corner and immediately jumped to her feet as Cinder Grimm entered the pub.

"Whoa! Hey! What are you doing in here?", the woman asked.

"Information... Need. Green... Green haired girl. And metal legs man...", Cinder croaked.

"Well, that doesn't come for free-", the woman was cut off as Cinder's Grimm arm shot towards the woman and lifted her off the ground by her throat.

"Need. Information. Now! Will kill everyone... Every... One...", Cinder growled.

"Well... They... Came in a few days ago... Saw a weirdo and headed to Vacuo...", the fat woman strained.

"Who!", Cinder roared.

"Mad... King...", the woman gasped.

Cinder Grimm dropped the woman to the ground and took notice of the entire bar rising up in arms against her.

"Where is Mad King!?", Cinder roared.

"He's... He's in Argus. But you won't get there... Attack!", The woman at the back told everyone to attack and it turned into a barroom blitz as everyone descended on Cinder with weapons drawn.

A few moments later, Cinder Grimm looked around the pub. Nobody moved. Nobody could move, arms and limbs littered the ground. 'Miss Malachite' as Cinder had learned during the fight was still alive, now missing an eye and leg, sat slightly behind the bar in fear.

"What... What are you?", Malachite asked.

"Something... Greater... Something new... Something far better...", Cinder mused.

Cinder silenced Miss Malachite and left the pub, the double doors swinging as she left. Anyone who entered the pub afterwards wondered what exactly or who exactly had come in and dissolved Miss Malachite's Spider Web.

XXXXX

Just outside of Argus, two figures one short and one tall thanked the airship pilot, Hanz Ohlo, and walked towards the shining city. They were dirty and disheveled from sleeping in a cave for a few days. They had avoided death yet again, as they lied, cheated, and stole.

"...", Neo noted.

"He's alive!?", Torchwick exclaimed.

"!?", Neo said.

"He's alive, but changed?", Torchwick extrapolated.

"...?", Neo stated.

"Right, so he's a 'hero' now. Where is he?", Torchwick asked.

"...", Neo said.

"He's in Argus. Great. Hopefully he'll forgive us for the rather hasty retreat from Haven.", Torchwick said.

"!", Neo noted.

"Oh so he hasn't changed that much, he just redirects his 'holy vengeance' towards actual evil now. Perfect. Well, maybe it's time that we change too. This life of crime isn't as cracked up as it's said to be, Neo. We could become legitimate businessmen like Hanz Ohlo!", Torchwick announced.

"...", Neo said.

"Yes! And we need to find Adam, he can help us and we can help him. We just need to be gentle.", Torchwick noted.

"!", Neo exclaimed.

"Ah right... Cinder... She's probably after us as well. Better find Adam fast. He's probably the least likely to kill us on sight.", Torchwick said.

"...", Neo agreed.

XXXXX

Back in Pyrrha's house, Team JNPRR sat and enjoyed some authentic Nikos Family cooking. Ren and Pandora cooked up a nice dinner that everyone ate happily. Pyrrha's mom had retreated back upstairs and left the Huntsmen to themselves where they began to ask each-other various questions.

"So, your Semblance can control time for you and whoever you're touching, but not if someone is touching you?", Rhames asked.

"Yes. I have to be touching them. If they touch me and I don't consent, then they don't travel back with me.", Jaune noted.

"Okay...", Rhames said.

"So what's the deal with the 'Mad King' thing?", Nora asked.

"Ah shit... Well, my father is a warlord from Vacuo. I'm from Vacuo and attended Shade Academy a few years ago. Basically, he's a bastard. I'm a bastard. And he's fighting our legitimate family. He has been for years... He's trying to take back his kingdom. He's already got the Violet Crown; the capital city. And... He has these rings. I have one... You've seen it.", Rhames noted.

"What do the rings do?", Ren asked.

"Well that's the thing. There are 8 of them in total. Supposedly a wizard enchanted the Rings to have Semblances. There were 8 chosen warriors and the Rings were supposed to give the warriors each-other's Semblances on top of their own. I know that this one is 'Amplification', which is my Father's Semblance. I don't know what the others do.", Rhames noted.

"But your Semblance is that 'Armiger' thing. You can conjure weapons...", Pyrrha noted.

"Yes. That's the hereditary Semblance of my Uncle, the usurper. My Father, the Mad King, has Amplification as his Semblance. Once upon a time, he was a chosen warrior and had one ring. Now he has all of them. Imagine a psychopath with 7 Semblances...", Rhames stated.

"Oh... Oh that's great... Can we just work with him instead of Ozzy Ozpin? I think we can end this whole thing early!", Jaune noted.

"But, how did he get all of the rings?", Nora asked innocently.

"How do you think? By killing everyone else. He's a warlord. I don't know really. He doesn't talk about his past. I just know that something changed him one day. Everyone says he used to be a selfless hero. He was praised as a healer... Then something happened.", Rhames reminisced.

"But your father is on our side right? We don't have to fight him, right?", Pyrrha asked.

"Maybe... Maybe not. He's a man of mystery. He does whatever he thinks is best for himself and his family. I just know that he's involved with Raven Branwen. She's his leash, I guess. If Raven wants us to live, then we live. If not...", Rhames said.

"Then we all die staring at our own lungs as they're ripped out of us.", Jaune noted.

"Uh, yeah... Something like that.", Rhames said.

Ren's Scroll chimed. Ruby and her team was nearby. They had finally made it to Argus after a long and strange trip to a small farm full of cannibal Grimm. They also met an old woman who never stopped talking and was previously known as the 'Grimm Reaper', a legendary Huntress who Qrow apparently had a thing for. Ren shrugged, Qrow was weird. Ruby and her friends had apparently arrived in Argus and were looking for them. Ren sent their location and address to Ruby and announced their arrival to his teammates.

"Ruby is here. She's arrived safely in Argus. She should be here within the hour.", Ren noted.

"Really? So soon? I guess we're going to Atlas a lot sooner than planned. Now, remember the plan. Do not cause a panic. Ozpin is a liar and we're doing this for ourselves now. Don't let him catch on.", Jaune said. His teammates and friends simply nodded in agreement.

XXXXX

Inside a rather strangely decorated club, music blared and speakers thumped. Junior Xiong had relocated after the Fall of Beacon and opened up a nice little nightclub in the social district of Argus. His new club had once been a warehouse and had several large bay doors that opened up and lead onto a larger outdoor seating area. His two twin bodyguards had stayed in Vale to fight in the still-ongoing 'War' between the Constructor's Union and the Plumber's Brotherhood. Junior shrugged and continued to polish glasses. His new club had become immensely popular with the locals and he had posted a sign on the door asking for help. It was nearly 5pm in the afternoon and the night rush would be coming in just a few hours. Junior looked up abruptly as a 500 lien chit was slid towards him.

"I'm not here for... Well... I'm not looking for a fight. I'm looking for a blond girl, you know her. She wrecked your place back in Vale a few years ago.", Adam noted.

Junior slowly placed his clean glassware back under the bar and began to reach for his rocket launcher.

"I don't want any trouble, Taurus. If you've brought you Fang lackeys here...", Junior said.

"I'm not... Look, I'm not Adam Taurus... Have you seen the girl or not? She's... She's my... family. All I've got left.", Adam noted.

Junior was mildly confused. He stared at the young man for a while. He did look a lot like Adam Taurus, but he didn't wear a mask. Junior noted his deep blue eyes that seemed strangely sad for some reason and slowly put his rocket launcher back down.

"Look, uh... Yeah, the girl was seen entering town a few hours ago... Do you want to talk about anything? You seem a little...", Junior said.

"I made all the wrong decisions all my life. I messed up so badly I got all my best friends killed and I thought they were weak for falling in combat. I had a ruthless father who hated me all my life and the one friend I thought I had, I pushed her away too. It only took a stint in jail and my own mother threatening to kill me to realize just how badly I fucked all this up... And it was all my fault. Everything was my own damn fault...", Adam ranted.

Junior wasn't really a kind man, he was a businessman and occasionally dabbled in the black market. Adam Taurus was a ruthless terrorist leader who fought for his own twisted visions of the world. Whoever this was that sat in front of him in reflection was definitely not Adam Taurus. He wasn't sure what had happened to the young man, but he was sure that if he in fact _was_ Adam Taurus, something had happened to him that changed him. For the better.

"I... Uh... Hey, drinks are on the house tonight.", Junior noted as he poured a strong whiskey for the man in front of him.

"Thanks...", Adam said.

Adam nursed his drink. It was strong and tasted like his father smelled. He felt like a crow for some reason and his head began to feel fuzzy. He soon realized this was what Qrow Branwen must feel like every day. He felt like he had a tiny body and a huge head with exaggerated expressions. It felt good, like nothing bad ever happened, ever.

"What are you to idiots doing in here!?", Junior yelled as presumably two idiots walked into his club.

"Ah, can't just drop in to say hello to old friends can I?", Roman Torchwick announced.

"You're not a friend, Torchwick! And you even brought your minion with you too!", Junior raged.

"...", Neo noted as she pointed at Junior.

"No, we can't do that! Junior is a dear friend! And besides, I think we already found who we're looking for!", Roman noted.

Adam glanced back at Torchwick and Neo and took a big gulp of his drink. This couldn't be happening to him right now. Torchwick was back to presumably whisk him away on yet another adventure in criminal activities. He changed! He tried to at least. He slammed the glass down on the bar and pulled out his sword. He swayed a little, but steadied himself.

"What do you want, Torchdick? After what you did to me back there, give me a reason why I should let you live...", Adam said.

"Wait! We don't want to fight you... We just want to chat. Have a nice little talk...", Roman said.

Adam glanced back at Junior who had already called in his lackeys and was now brandishing a large rocket launcher in their direction.

"Fine. Let's have a chat.", Adam noted.

X

A few drinks later, Adam and Roman sat at a table in strange agreement. Neo stayed silent as usual and only her facial expressions noted what her feelings were.

"So Cinder Fall survived, or not really... She became a Grimm and now she hunts you? Is that what I'm supposed to believe!?", Adam asked incredulously

"Yes. Well, believe whatever you want. It's true. I heard you changed as well and perhaps, my lifestyle isn't as cracked up as it is to believe. I want to change just like you. Neo agrees. We'll both survive longer as legitimate businessmen than wanted criminals. Hell, we could even become Huntsmen!", Roman mused.

"Well, Roman. First thing is realizing how much of a bastard you've been and how badly you've broken everything. Then you look deep inside yourself and hate yourself for doing those things. Then you look and see what choices you have. Keep doing what you've been doing and die a pathetic death or change. Believe me when I say that the change will hurt more than death will.", Adam said.

"Hm. And what do you think Neo and I should do? We're lifetime criminals!", Roman mused.

"Anything other than that? What motivates you? Why do you do the things you do?", Adam asked.

"I've always been at the bottom of the food chain, I've started from nothing and gotten everything from lying, cheating and being able to survive! I want to be on the top for once, I want to have perfection! I don't care how much it hurts! I want to have control. I want a perfect fashion. I want a perfect soul!", Roman ranted.

"Then become a business tycoon. Start a company and control the market like Hyperion or Schnee Dust. You can lie and steal and cheat all you want then, but It's for business and therefore legal. Start a fashion company. You can have your perfection then.", Adam mused.

"Not a bad idea. We could call it the Neopolitan Collection. Neo has some wonderful ideas for design. And I can be the model! I can float like a feather in a beautiful world!", Roman said.

Adam wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or if he was actually getting through to Roman Torchwick. Neo seemed happy enough though, for all he could tell. He felt roughly for where his horns used to be; he still had some issues though. He still had to apologize to all his new family members. Then he had to redeem himself to Blake. And then there was the new threat of Cinder Grimm. He took another sip of his drink, but got nothing but ice.

"Look, Torchwick. I'll help you out if you help me. There's this little problem I have...", Adam mused.

XXXXX

Raven and Arden sat in her stronghold. They both enjoyed some bitter Mistrali tea. Doctor Stannis had left to show their new recruits around the town. Arden looked a little concerned for some reason.

"And tell me again, why have you not told any of your offspring how exactly you became a Maiden?", Arden mused.

"For the same reasons you don't tell your only son why you are the way you are now. When I met you, you were an idealistic young man with god on his shoulder and a light within his heart.", Raven noted.

"And then that light was snuffed out like a candle in an act of perceived mercy. Or were you saving time? I'm still not sure about all of it... I just know what you really are inside, Raven.", Arden mused.

"We had no choice. We needed someone stronger to carry on our legacy.", Raven said strangely.

"Oh really? Is that you? Or... _you_?", Arden mused

Raven shook her head. "It was mercy, Arden. I did what I had to do. And I regret every moment of it. If I could, I would've done anything else, but... I couldn't. And you knew what would happen if I didn't. I'm sorry..."

"Well then. Mercy it was. Let's try to show a little more of that when it comes to our offspring...", Arden mused. "And Raven, let's not disappear again. The pain was untold when you left and I don't want to see another rose left in the rain.

Raven wanted to turn away, but couldn't. The Maiden within her kept her gaze affixed to Arden Greyblood, the father of their offspring.

XXXXX

Team JNPR and Rhames now sat in a rather crowded living room with Team RWBY and friends. Pyrrha's mother had said hello to them briefly before leaving the house. Pandora apparently didn't like to intrude onto her now-alive-and-well daughter's business.

'Jaune! I heard you got us passage to Atlas! That's great!", Ruby beamed.

"Oh yeah, kiddo! Listen to this!", Jaune said as he pulled out his Scroll and dialed Cordovin's number. It rang a few times before Cordovin answered in an overly happy tone.

"Oh hello, Jaune, I just baked some cookies for you! It's great to hear from you so soon! Are you heading to Atlas? How many friends are you bringing?", Cordovin asked.

"A lot. Like maybe thirteen or fourteen people. Oh and your best friend Maria Calavera with her cashews!", Jaune said.

"Oh really? Tell Maria I'm sorry for all the hostility, it was just for keeping up appearances, you know; _office politics_! I love cashews! I'll be waiting here at the base for you and your friends! It's not a problem at all!", Cordovin noted before ending the call. On the other end, Cordovin sincerely hoped that Jaune was rethinking his plans of making her an 'Athlete'. Her soldiers just stared at her in utter confusion. "If he tells you to do 400 jumping jacks in your underwear, you will do them. I swear, he's worse than the Grimm. Or he's actually a Grimm in human disguise! Just do what he says!", Cordovin raged, the soldiers dispersed like frightened rabbits.

"See? I really am awesome.", Jaune gloated.

"Oh really? I thought she was just being a bi-... Well, I guess people do change.", Maria noted.

"So we really have passage for Atlas? No problems at all?", Ruby asked.

"Yep! Guaranteed travel. First-class ticket to Atlas. You can thank me later.", Jaune noted.

"Oh you can bet on that! We're both going to thank you so hard... So hard you won't even know what hit you!", Yang and Ruby both said. Pyrrha glared at the two of them.

"Now ladies, I know an innuendo when I hear one. Let's not _thank_ him yet. We're not in Atlas!", Maria noted. "I need to rest for a bit. This whole cannibal-farm and train-wreck has done a doozy on my eyes. I need to enjoy this little break for a while."

Maria headed outside into Pyrrha's backyard. Ruby followed shortly behind. Qrow left to find the nicest bar in town with a few credit chits from Jaune and Rhames headed back off to complete some more Huntsman Missions. Ozcar headed upstairs to one of the guest rooms. Jaune followed him up leaving Pyrrha with the rest of their teammates and friends.

"Okay... So who's hungry? I'll be making dinner with my sous chef, Nora.", Ren announced. Everyone else raised their hands. Ren sighed and began to make a list of ingredients that he sent a few of them out to fetch.

XXXXX

Qrow entered the 'Best Bar in Town', it happened to be owned by the Xiong Family again. Qrow had frequented Junior Xiong's club rather often back when Vale was still Vale and wasn't currently involved in some kind of combat. For a moment, he thought he recognized the infamous Roman Torchwick and did a double take, this guy was bald as a billiard, Torchwick had illustrious orange hair. Meh, whatever. Qrow kept walking, he walked past an incredibly young looking girl and shook his head. They were getting younger and younger every day. She didn't appear to be drinking, so maybe she was just here to party? He shrugged and hoped Yang wouldn't come in here one day. He kept on trotting towards he bar in front of him. Junior Xiong manned the bar as usual. A young man bumped into him.

"Oh! Sorry...", the man exclaimed.

Qrow just stared at the young man for a moment. The man seemed to recognize Qrow, but Qrow had never seen this guy in his life. Deep blue eyes looked at him sadly. Qrow felt odd, he seemed to know who this was, but couldn't put a name to a face. He squinted.

"Ehh, no problem kid. Have fun.", Qrow noted.

Junior stopped cleaning glasses and stared at Qrow for a moment. "Qrow! Long time no see! The usual tonight?", he asked.

"The usual. Actually, make it a double. I need it after this.", Qrow noted.

"Hard life as a Huntsman right?", Junior asked.

"Yep. Dealing with a bunch of kids right now. Too many. We're staying up in a little house by the park. Really nice, except the statue is killing the mood. Anyways, how have you been?", Qrow said.

"Ah, I hear you, that statue is really sad. Senior Xiong finally retired, he's living it up down south where it's warm...", Junior noted.

The conversation between Qrow and Junior devolved into small talk about their lives and how they'd managed to get to where they were right now. Adam overheard a lot of what Qrow was saying and finally managed to pinpoint where to go. He would head to the park and see the statue. Maybe by chance, one of his former enemies, now future friends would come by and he could attempt to apologize to them. It was probably safer than going and knocking on their door. He took a deep breath and headed outside, leaving Torchwick and Neo to dance the night away all alone.

**Chapter End. Sorta. It's getting way to long to upload as a single chapter. Enjoy this for now. More is coming. The Unkindness that comes alongside those who feed on carrion.**


	29. Those Who Feed on Carrion

XXXXX

Chapter 28: Those Who Feed on Carrion

XXXXX

Back in Sanctuary, Raven's home base and fortress, Arden paced restlessly. His Scroll chimed causing him to glance down for a moment. He stared at Raven with determination.

"And that is our cue, my dear. It's time for you to honor your end of our deal. I found your wayward children. It's time for us to depart. Unkindness follows those who feed on carrion, and they shall feast for a fortnight.", Arden mused.

Raven sighed. It would be fun to reunite with some Huntsmen again. It might be fun to fight for a cause again. It wouldn't be fun because her morals were so horribly skewed right now. Arden's _deal_ involved several issues she just wasn't interested in at the moment. However, she had agreed to it and she wasn't about to tarnish her honor by refusing. Arden had actually come through with his promise so she at least owed him this.

"Fine. How are we getting there? An airship is too slow...", Raven asked.

"Oh you've already put the pieces in motion, my dear. Taiyang Xiao-Long. Find him and use your gift. Better bring the brigands, this isn't going to be an easy fight...", Arden mused.

Raven sighed even heavier. She thought about Taiyang and their time together as teammates. She thought of their romance during their days as Team STRQ. She thought of happier times before her life was turned upside down. She drew her sword and cut open time and space and created a portal. Arden seemed pleased. Doctor Stannis arrived with Cardin and Russel just in time to see the portal open.

"Ah. The reckoning. It has come...", Doctor Stannis mused.

Arden simply beckoned the strange Doctor and the two new recruits through the portal. The three men hesitantly entered the portal and disappeared from sight. Raven turned to her incredibly bored apprentice who had been sitting on the couch and playing the Amity Arena game on her Scroll.

"Vernal? It's time for you to take leadership. I'll return when I'm able to.", Raven noted.

Vernal, who had been oblivious to everything up until recently put her Scroll down. She had been trying desperately for the last few months to get to Arena 9 in the hottest Scroll game in Remnant.

"What!? Really? I... I'm the leader of the Branwen Tribe now?", Vernal stuttered.

Raven sighed again. Vernal had made the couch her permanent residence since the blasted game had come out. She was more or less an inanimate object and completely ignored the Bandit Queen's demands. She didn't even notice Yang when she arrived or the feud between her and Adam. Raven had honestly forgotten she'd even existed until just now.

"Just until I get back. Don't do anything I wouldn't. And no more games. This is real life. Real people can die if you make the wrong choices...", Raven said.

Vernal just nodded, she put her Scroll into a drawer and locked it up. She stood at attention and began to look over her leader's notes. Time to be a leader.

Raven and Arden entered the portal together. She hoped Taiyang was having a better time than she was right now.

XXX

Meanwhile, in Vacuo, Taiyang was incredibly confused. The 'Huntsmen' he'd been told to meet had met up with another set of Huntsmen. A stoic woman with pure white skin and hair and a pure white robe and hood stared at them with blood-red eyes. She didn't seem to trust them. A cat Faunus stumbled around with a flask, reminding him of Qrow and a very short and very stocky man talked a lot, but made strange noises. A moody and brooding woman in a red dress with an edgy haircut stared at Taiyang for some reason.

"Oh and this is Alabaster Blanche, leader of Team ATAK, she's uhh... an assassin or ninja or something. This cat-dude is Myatt Blaag, the drunken master. The little guy is Timmy Rim, the wildcard. And this edgelord is Kindel Fyre, Alabaster's best friend. We're just missing Alfie Chan, the resident weirdo.", Minstrel Jonas announced.

Taiyang stared at the group in disbelief. Vacuo was a harsh place, but this group was probably the weirdest group he'd ever seen in his life. Possibly even more dysfunctional than Team STRQ had been.

"Oookay...", Tai noted.

"So where is Alfie anyways?", Jonk asked.

"Away.", Alabaster noted.

"Oh, okay.", Jonk responded.

"Aaand this is our new friend. Say hi, Mister Yang!", Javelin called.

"Uhh, Hi?", Tai said.

None of the other Huntsmen acknowledged him. Taiyang felt bad. He turned to Team MRJJ and expected some kind of response.

"Riiight. Alabaster doesn't talk much. Alfie is the weirdest one yet, you ever meet a scorpion Faunus before? I think the venom is poisoning their own mind. Anyways...", Javelin said breaking the silence.

"So, are all of them going to be joining us on this _mission_?", Taiyang asked.

"No.", Alabaster noted.

The three members of Team ATAK grabbed Myatt by his arms and hurled the inebriated Faunus towards Tai. Myatt collided with Taiyang and sent him to the ground in pain.

In a bright flash of light, the aforementioned scorpion Faunus appeared. Alfie was in fact, a male Faunus who wore a belly-shirt and Daisy-Duke styled 'pants'. "Heyooooo!", he called. There was another flash of light and Team ATAK had disappeared from sight. Taiyang just stared at the space they'd occupied in utter confusion.

"What is _wrong_ with you people!?", Taiyang yelled.

Jonk pulled Myatt the Cat off of Taiyang and helped the senior Huntsman to his feet.

"Ehh, you get used to it. Anyways, now that we've got our fifth member, it's off to the Violet Crown. We've been hired to protect it from... something. We're being given a mansion, it's apparently made of smaller mansions!", Jonk announced. Taiyang facepalmed so hard he thought he'd cracked his own skull.

The sound of a portal opening behind the strangely assembled group heralded the arrival of Taiyang's other half. He stood up and glanced at the portal as it opened and two men walked out of it. He didn't know who they were. A strange stag Faunus exited after them and then finally Raven herself. And the Mad King. He noticed the stag Faunus and the two men glance around in a panic before retreating through the portal as it closed.

"Tai...", Raven noted.

"Oh hey, Raven! Are you here to make my life even more miserable than it already is?", Tai asked.

"Ah, the venerable Huntsman. An honor to finally meet you, Xiao-Long. I have heard so much and so little about you.", Arden noted.

"And you brought him too. I should've guessed it after I heard about the Violet Crown. Well, I guess the gang's all here. Now we can die together!", Taiyang relented.

"Right. And these three are... Where did they go?", Raven asked to no one in particular after noticing Cardin, Russel and Doctor Stannis missing.

"Hm. Seems like they weren't prepared. Oh well, I'm sure they'll be fine back in Sanctuary with your 'apprentice'.", Arden noted. "A shame. Yet we will be perfectly fine. Eight Huntsmen against a few of the White Queen's pawns."

"Raven, what are we doing out here?", Taiyang asked, wishing for some kind of explanation.

"Keeping promises, Tai.", Raven noted.

"Well, enough talk. Time to get moving...", Arden noted as he pulled the group off into the desert sands. Taiyang dragged his feet. He didn't want to be here. He didn't trust Raven and he certainly didn't trust Arden any farther than he could throw him.

XXX

Cardin, Russel and Doctor Stannis arrived back in Raven's stronghold to behold a strange sight. Vernal sat on the couch as Scarlet David fanned her with a large palm leaf. She ate grapes from a tray and drank wine.

"Oh! Whoops!", Vernal exclaimed as she noticed the three of them return.

XXXXX

Back in Argus, Adam stood in the middle of the park. He stared up at the large bronze statue. He knew who this was, it was Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha was still alive, though. She'd been at Haven when he'd attacked it. He sighed and just stared at the statue sadly. Were there more memorials like this one? Were there memorials to the Faunus who had died for his own pointless cause? A few tears crept down his face as he thought about a different world where things went differently and briefly imagined a statue of Blake in the center of Menagerie. Another statue to a girl who tried, a statue to a girl who stood up to the White Fang and died for it. Another possibility that could have been. He shook his head in a rage attempting to clear his mind of the possibilities.

"It's so sad, isn't it?", a voice called. Adam recognized the voice. He didn't turn around. "I mean, I know she's okay. I just saw her. But for everyone here, they didn't know. They built this memorial in her memory. I can't imagine what she felt when she saw it."

Adam stayed silent. He just shook his head in approval. Footsteps behind him announced that the speaker was getting closer to him.

"I saw something similar when... When I went home after Vale was attacked. I didn't have a statue, but there was a small memorial to all of those who fell in combat. Humans and Faunus alike, united in mourning.", the voice noted. "If I had a chance to do anything all over again, I'd have done it. I... I used to have a friend, I thought he was a brave man. But he turned into a monster one day. And I left him. I left him all alone in his troubles. If I could, I would've stayed and helped him. Not with what he desired, but with himself. Maybe instead of all the fighting, we would've had peace instead. And the humans and Faunus would be united in a different way."

"I... I'm sorry.", Adam said. "For everything."

Adam didn't block when the attack came or when the speaker was revealed. He took the hits as punishment. He just stared at Blake in sorrow. She was scared, she didn't know why he was here or how he got here to begin with. She stared at him awaiting and scanning for his next move. She knew what he was. What he had been for so long before.

"Adam!? You... Are you following me? What are you doing here!?", Blake screamed. She threw out another attack that hit him in the chest and deflected off his Aura. She unsheathed Gambol Shroud and held the blade to his throat.

"No. I... I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I guess I'm seeking redemption. Just... Do it, Blake. I know it's what you want.", Adam said as he dropped his Aura. He unclipped his sword from his belt and threw it across the park. He stood with open palms outwards.

Blake hesitated for a moment. She wanted to kill him, she really did. One motion and his head would fall. She'd be doing the world a favor, but Adam didn't even fight back. He didn't have a weapon and he stood there silently awaiting his fate; eyes wide with regret. Adam Taurus had honor, he was the embodiment of it. The Adam who stood in front of her seemed to seethe in dishonor. And she knew she couldn't kill an unarmed man, even if she knew who he was. She knew who he was; who he used to be. But now? Adam had changed. And she wanted to know why.

"Why are you doing this?", Blake asked.

"I found the truth, Blake. I've been living a lie and have been forcing people to see that lie as the truth. It's funny how revelation strikes you like that. I made a promise to someone and I intend to keep that promise. Even if it kills me.", Adam said.

Blake stared at him. She knew Adam Taurus and she'd seen his face before. She'd remembered those burning blue eyes full of hatred. He had none of that anymore. His eyes were full of sorrow and regret. His horns were missing and his hair was clean and slicked back. Even his clothing was brighter and cleaner than the imposing uniform he'd worn.

"What happened to you?", Blake asked in confusion.

Before Adam could answer, Blake's other best friend and fiery blond-haired teammate rounded the corner and noticed the cat Faunus with her weapon drawn. Yang Xiao-Long ran over to them immediately and also recognized the former enemy held at sword point. Purple eyes turned red and Adam briefly saw his own death flashing before his eyes and accepted his fate.

"Wait! He's... He's not who you think he is. I think.", Blake stuttered.

"Uhh, that's Adam Taurus, Blake. I can see that. What I can't understand is why he's not dead right now.", Yang said.

"Well, obviously! It's just that... It's not really him. Not anymore...", Blake reasoned.

"So we're not killing him?", Yang asked.

"No.", Blake said.

And then Yang punched Adam in the gut and launched him across the park. He flew backwards and bounced off of the huge bronze shield that Statue Pyrrha held. He landed in a heap of pain.

"Yang!", Blake exclaimed.

"You said we weren't killing him. I didn't kill him.", Yang noted.

XXX

A few moments later, Yang and Blake sat at a small tea house. Adam sat across from them. They all enjoyed some Red Hibiscus Tea. Blake sat silently in confusion and Yang still had Ember Celica cocked and trained on Adam.

"Just hear him out, Yang. I want to know why he's here. Look at him, his eyes are full of regret.", Blake pleaded.

"Fine. I'll hear him out.", Yang relented.

"So, what happened to you?", Blake asked.

"I had a chance at redemption. I met my mother and she gave me a second chance. She told me the truth and gave me two options; Change or die. I learned the truth. And I changed. I'm still coming to terms with it. I have a mother, a real mother. A human mother. And I have siblings. I have a family. It's all I ever wanted, truthfully. Acceptance and love.", Adam said.

"You just let go of all of your rage?", Blake asked.

"If I didn't, I'd still be a rat in a cage. I'm not Adam _Taurus_ anymore. I'm not out for _vengeance._ I'm trying to _redeem_ myself. To you, to Yang... To everyone.", Adam stated.

"Adam... I... I believe you. I can see what your intentions are. And I trust you.", Blake noted.

"Really? Seriously? You believe him!?", Yang noted.

"Yes, Yang. I can read people. He's not trying to kill us and he's not trying to hide his face or even show off that he's a Faunus anymore. Without his horns, he just looks like a human. A sad man filled with regret...", Blake noted.

"I'm tired of running away. I've been running all my life and it's time I finally stopped and faced the facts. I was wrong. I'm a terrible person. I deserve whatever punishment you have for me. If I had the chance to start over, I would've done anything else than what I ended up doing. I can't bring back your arm, Yang. Or erase the painful times I caused for you Blake. But I can try to help you now. I just want you to forgive me. I want you to... to let me have this... To let me see what I couldn't see before.", Adam said.

"I... I can't do that. I can't forgive Adam _Taurus_ for what he's done. But you're not Adam _Taurus_ anymore, are you?", Blake noted.

"No... Adam Taurus is dead. I killed him. I'm Adam _Branwen, _a bastard and a broken man.", Adam stated.

Adam wasn't prepared for the stream of hot tea that was spat directly into his face. He calmly picked up a napkin and wiped his face with it before turning to Yang, who had just showered him with spittle.

"What!? Seriously? Seriously!?", Yang yelled.

"Wait... Branwen? Isn't that...", Blake mused.

"No please god! Oh no no no no no! Please, Gods, why!? No no no... Nooooo!", Yang screamed to the skies.

"Oh... Yeah... I was going to mention that a little more... _gently...",_ Adam said.

"Well, I forgive you Adam _Branwen._ You're trying. I guess I used to know you. I knew who you were before, but I really don't know you now.", Blake said.

Blake and Adam turned around to stare at Yang, who was now entirely on fire for some reason. "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?", she screamed to the heavens.

Very far away in Vacuo, Raven Branwen felt a disturbance. One of her children was having a mental breakdown in the middle of a street for some reason. She ignored the urge to teleport and continued to follow her teammates through the desert.

XXX

Qrow had returned from Junior's club and now sat pleasantly in Pyrrha's dining room. The reunited team was having dinner and enjoying their break from all of the drama. He sipped some of Pandora's Ouzo. He jumped slightly as the front door was kicked open and Yang stumbled into the house. She smelled like cheap booze.

"Sup, _Drunkle_ Qrow. I just met another fun Branwen! His name is Adam and he cut off my arm once. He's also a Faunus. He's a very special _Bullshit_ Faunus!", Yang slurred. She grabbed the bottle of Ouzo and began to gulp down the dry spirits.

Qrow just sat in shock. Blake and _Adam_ entered into the house shortly after. Yang staggered over to Pyrrha's couch and flopped down onto it. Qrow and everyone else just sat in shock and stared at Adam. Then everyone drew their weapons.

"Wait... Wait... Adam Taurus!?", Weiss exclaimed.

"Adam _Branwen.",_ Blake corrected. "He... He killed Adam Taurus."

"Are you sure?", Nora asked.

"Yes.", Blake stated.

"Oh great! Another brother? I think we're going to get along great!", Rhames noted, as he was the only one not currently holding a weapon.

Jaune stared at Adam. He took notice of his right hand, which was prosthetic and also a Hyperion product. He silently connected the dots and then came to a conclusion; Yang's family was fucked up.

"Well, welcome to the team! I'm Jaune Arc, blah blah, Heir of Hyperion. There are some leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry.", Jaune noted.

"Uhh... Thanks.", Adam said.

"No... No... That's Adam Taurus. He has an SDC logo on his face. He was branded!", Weiss exclaimed.

"I tripped and fell face-first into a brand. My fault.", Adam said.

"Uh-huh...", Weiss noted.

"Guys... I think I'm having an aneurysm.", Ruby noted quietly.

"I'm with Weiss, that guy looks a lot like Adam Taurus... Except he's not wearing a mask. Or trying to kill us... Or... You know what? I think I trust Blake's judgment!", Sun noted.

Ren just sighed and began to reheat some of the leftovers for their new teammate. Roman Torchwick could drop out of the sky right now in a pink frilly dress and he wouldn't be any less surprised. Things had gotten a lot weirder lately.

"Okay... Well, hello Adam. I'm Pyrrha Nikos.", Pyrrha said.

"I know. I saw your statue.", Adam noted.

"Oh. Well... It's nice?", Pyrrha said.

"It's a little sad. But yes, It's a nice statue.", Adam said.

Loud retching echoed through the room as Yang hurled into one of Pyrrha's larger trophies. The entire group shifted their attention to the blond-haired fighter.

"Sorry Pyrrha...", Yang said as she promptly passed out.

XXXXX

Team MRJJ and their new friends arrived in the Violet Crown, Arden Greyblood's kingdom. It was huge with a sprawling city complex attached to the royal grounds. A huge black castle stood in the center, slightly out of place in the post-modern styled city. Townsfolk milled around until they'd realized that their king was back and ran into various buildings and barred the doors. Arden had a reputation, apparently.

"Yes, hello! Your king is back! It has been a long time, but I am back at last!", Arden announced. Nobody said anything. The whole place was now deserted and silent.

"Well, that's not a great sight.", Minstrel noted.

"He's the Mad King, Minstrel!", Jonk said.

"Yeah, and?", Minstrel asked.

"He's... Mad?", Jonk said.

"To the throne room! I have a feeling my usurpers are already expecting us!", Arden announced.

Raven sighed. The city had changed since she'd been here before. It was now almost as advanced as Atlas. She just wanted to get this over with.

The group continued into the palace. Large paintings of the royal family lined the walls. Taiyang had never been here before. He took note of a few interesting paintings. The royal guards, seven Huntsmen he didn't recognize and Arden standing proudly in white armor. Another painting of Arden and another woman, the woman was shorter and had long brown hair and a garnet dress. Marriage? He didn't know. A few of the other paintings were missing or destroyed. Some newer ones told a different story. He noticed Arden standing in darker clothing in one painting alongside Raven. Eight Rings on his fingers. And the final painting showed Arden and Raven with a young boy between them. The boy had dark hair and red eyes. Taiyang sighed. Even the paintings didn't tell the whole story.

In the throne room, another dark-haired man sat on the throne. He stared idly at Arden as he and their team entered.

"Off my throne, usurper. The king sits there!", Arden called.

"You are not the king, cursed one! I am Nocturnis, the true heir!", the man called.

"Oh, and you think you can just take my chair from me?", Arden said, grinning.

Nocturnis leaped up and activated his Semblance, several diamond weapons appearing from the air. He landed and beckoned towards the Mad King.

"Come, child. Come and bring me death!", Arden taunted.

Nocturnis thrust forwards but suddenly realized he didn't have a weapon anymore. He looked at Arden in fear.

"Yes, child. You failed.", Arden noted.

Arden simply swung his fist down on top of Nocturnis' skull. A wet crack and the man fell limp and dead. Arden turned around to his new friends and climbed up to the throne and sat down on it. He kicked Nocturnis' body down the steps.

"Okay... How did you do that?", Jonk asked.

"Power is power. And I have a limitless amount of it.", Arden noted. "I get tired of usurpers. They are never a challenge."

"So we won? Can we have our mansion now?", Minstrel noted.

"Not yet. The usurper was just an annoyance. The real fight will find us here!", Arden announced.

Taiyang just stared at Arden. He turned to Raven, then turned back to Arden. He had been slightly aware of the Mad King, but didn't know the extent of his power.

"Tai, Arden has a very unique Semblance. He can amplify other Semblances. He can also... do the opposite of that. It's quite interesting, really.", Raven noted.

"Err... Yeah. It sure is!", Tai noted.

"Tai. Don't be afraid now. I was when I met him, but... Things changed. Arden is nobler than those we met before. Especially Ozpin.", Raven noted. "He never tells lies. He always tell the truth, no matter how cryptic it is."

"I'm sure he's a passionate lover, Raven. He just killed a guy though. Right in front of us!", Taiyang exclaimed.

"He's protecting what he loves. You'd do the same.", Raven noted.

Taiyang was about to say something derogatory, but was cut off as the doors to the throne room burst open. A green-haired girl, a moody grey-haired boy, and a few others he didn't recognize burst into the room.

"Ah, and it begins. I told you my name once, but you didn't know who I was. I am _Arden._ Arden _Greyblood._ The King of the _Violent_ Crown! I welcome you! I welcome you to your death!", Arden announced.

XXX

Several Hours Earlier

XXX

Several moments previously, Emerald, Mercury and their best friend Grimm:Lock arrived outside the Violet Crown. The Violet Crown was a large city on the outskirts of Vacuo, slightly outside the inhospitable desert and bordering a slightly more grassy area. Emerald stared at their map in confusion. They should've arrived in Shade, but had run into this place instead. The man in the bar had marked their maps wrong. She sighed.

"Em? This isn't what I imagined Shade looking like...", Mercury mused.

"That's because it's not Shade. We're somewhere else.", Emerald noted.

Emerald glanced back at the strange group of 'Huntsmen' they'd met on their way. They had found a large brute in a gas mask with no teeth named Krieg, a grizzled ex-Atlas military guy named Paxton, a bizarre woman who looked inexplicably like Pyrrha Nikos named Marty and some kind of Mantle-era military robot named Pence. At least they had a chance at taking on opposition now. Salem hadn't said anything about recruiting some minions.

Emerald sighed again. All the strangers and freaks they'd recruited had something against this 'Mad King' and his 'Queen' for some reason. Krieg hated the Queen's daughter for breaking all of his teeth. Paxton used to be a guard and was demoted and now held a grudge. Marty hated the King's son for ruining her life and never stopped whining. Pence was a robot of some sort that was decommissioned for 'instability'. Grimm:Lock fit right in with this lot of weirdos.

They had been sitting in a small pub waiting and planning when a bunch of townsfolk ran in and locked the front doors. The Mad King had returned. Everyone panicked and quickly too shelter in the basement of the pub. Emerald and Mercury asked their teammates what exactly was going on.

"Strip the flesh!", Krieg exclaimed.

"He's back. When the mad king is here, nobody tries to fight him.", Paxton said.

"Uggh. Great. I guess I can go back to being called 'Bitch'.", Marty sighed.

"Beep Boop. Bop. Beep. I am com-com-bat ready.", Pence noted.

"Me Grimm:Lock smash!", Grimm:Lock noted.

Emerald sighed and began to walk towards the palace. Maybe this Mad King knew something about their mission. Maybe killing the Mad King would endear the people to Salem instead of whoever they followed. Emerald had a hunch that the Mad King was probably some incarnation of Ozpin for some reason.

XXX

Emerald just stared at Arden Greyblood. This was the guy they'd met in the shithole town a few months ago. And he'd lied. And he'd led them to his own castle. And he'd led them into an ambush. She and Mercury readied themselves for combat.

Arden Greyblood pulled out his weapon. He grabbed a small staff-like object and unfolded it into a long scythe that seemed to glow in hatred. It was about the same size as the Harbinger or Crescent Rose, but appeared to be made of obsidian. He smiled and launched forwards, disappearing into smoke and black rose petals. He reappeared directly in front of Krieg and swung his scythe, bisecting the brute in a single swing. Arden grinned the whole time.

Taiyang turned to Raven in shock. "Raven?", he asked.

Raven glanced at Tai. He was shocked and was thinking about something. Something horrible.

"Raven, please tell me that Ruby is mine. She's my daughter right? Not... Not... his? She's mine, right? Right!?", Taiyang asked and pleaded.

Raven knew the answer to that question and just gave Taiyang a look. The look was enough to shatter the poor man's spirit. She probably could've stabbed Taiyang through the heart and done less damage.

"She's your daugher, Tai.", Raven noted. Taiyang didn't believe her. He just froze and stood there in shock.

Team MRJJ jumped into combat. They were going to get that bounty. They wanted their mansion made of smaller mansions!

XXXXX

Meanwhile in Atlas...

XXXXX

Doctor Merlot sat comfortably in a large lobby. The lobby was painted in gaudy gold and bronze colors of one of his rivals and friends. He silently waited for his best frenemy to come down from his cushy office and greet him personally. John Tassiter Arc had sent several small 'Clappers' to retrieve Merlot, but the stubborn man wanted a face to face greeting.

After waiting an uncomfortably long time, Merlot took to wandering around the so-called Hall of Heroism and stared idly out the window in front of him. Several years ago, Tassiter Arc had attempted to send his corporate office into geo-stationary orbit around the planet. It had failed spectacularly as they soon discovered that Dust didn't work outside of the atmosphere. The whole great H-Shaped construct had come crashing down onto the planet somewhere. Tassiter Arc never found its ruins. Instead, Arc had used Gravity Dust to levitate his still H-Shaped corporate headquarters known locally as 'Helios' above and directly next to Atlas itself. Tassiter Arc had been petitioning for 'Helios' to be considered its own City-State outside of Atlas; the talks had been getting nowhere.

"Still as stubborn as usual...", Tassiter Arc noted from behind.

"Perhaps. I have limited time. You're costing me business, Arc. What do you have to show me now? That moonshot thing didn't sway Ironwood's iron wood. What could you have possibly come up with now?", Merlot asked.

"A little research first. Dust is powerful, but what if it was refined into an even more versatile substance? I call it _Eridium_. I have created a cannon that will fire a direct beam of focused energy into our target from here. It's quite extraordinary...", Arc noted.

"And what would you call this 'cannon'?", Merlot asked.

"The Eye of Helios.", Arc responded.

Merlot sighed. This was typical. Tassiter Arc had his naming scheme. Use Ancient Mistrali names for everything. Even the sword he'd gifted to a certain Bandit Queen had been called _Exagora _or Redemption for some reason. He quietly assumed this was a large version of _Thanatos and Katastrofi_, the two weapons he'd gifted to the cereal mascot.

"Well, let's get this show overwards...", Merlot relented and he soon followed Tassiter Arc upwards through his corporate headquarters.

XXXXX

Back in the Violet Crown...

XXXX

Emerald recoiled in horror. The 'Mad King' had similar abilities to that of a certain silver-eyed girl she'd met earlier. Except the Mad King wasn't afraid to shed some blood. A lot of blood, actually. Krieg fell in several pieces to his death on the ground. So much for the brute.

"Come, come, oh come, Child. Bring me death once again!", Arden called.

Mercury catapulted forwards with his kicks. A large man blocked his attack and slammed the ground with a huge morning star, sending up fragments of the ground. A smaller man in a blue hoodie seemingly teleported and began to assault Mercury with a flurry of blows. Emerald stepped back for a moment to look at her opposition. She took careful note of the Spring Maiden standing and watching her. This wasn't going to end well...

Emerald just froze for a moment. It was all a trap, the Mad King knew she was going to come here, he'd sent her himself. He brought the Spring Maiden, whether for Salem to gain her power or... Or not, probably not since he was leading everyone into their violent deaths at the moment. Marty was next to fall in combat; she was assaulted from various angles by several pigeon Faunus at once, the same laughing and smug face battered her body as copies of the copies dissipated and reformed around the mistress. Marty was too distracted to notice the blade of the Mad King's scythe swing back around and relieve her of her own head. Emerald sighed. So much for the 'princess'.

Myatt the Cat stumbled drunkenly around his opponents. He swayed to and fro with no discernible patterns. He drank from his flask and threw out punches and kicks that missed. Pence the robot couldn't counter any of his movements. The robot began to stutter. Pence swung downwards and missed Myatt Blaag by several feet, anticipating an attack that didn't come, for the cat Faunus was too distracted to notice and turned, almost by accident and dumped the alcoholic liquid over the robot's head. The robot immediately began to sizzle and short-circuit; it was less useful in wet conditions than that bumbling idiot Neptune. Emerald sighed again. Hopefully Paxton would be their ace in the hole.

Paxton set up his turret by throwing it down on the ground. He'd kept a small deployable turret in his backpack for defensive reasons and set up a perimeter defense for his team leaders. The turret held off the Mad King and his hired help for a few minutes.

"Of all the strongest warriors, you chose one that uses a metal turret for his only defense...", The Mad King mocked.

The turret was lifted with the powers of Polarity and hurled backwards into its user, exploding on contact and killing Emerald's military might. Okay, so now they were just the two loser teenagers and a hungry alligator Faunus. Or dinosaur Faunus, she wasn't sure. Emerald began to concentrate her illusions. The Mad King had called back his hired help and motioned for the blond man and the Maiden to step up next. Save the best for last, as it seemed.

Emerald recognized the blond man as Taiyang Xiao-Long, presumably the father of the same Yang Xiao-Long from the Vytal Festival and that little team that constantly opposed them. She conjured a very special illusion just for him.

"Dad! Wait!", Yang suddenly called.

"Yang? What are _you_ doing here?", Tai asked.

"Helping you? They're stronger than they look! They already killed Ruby!", Yang exclaimed.

Taiyang felt his heart stop for a moment. He looked in shock at his opponents. They'd taken the only thing from him that was actually his. He broke down for a moment in utter depressing sadness. He shook with bitter tears and looked back up suddenly. The dragon had been freed and he launched towards Emerald and Mercury with a fury that had never been seen before. Emerald suddenly realized she'd made a terrible mistake and concentrated on her illusion harder.

Taiyang felt nothing but fury as he launched himself towards the two minions of Salem. They'd taken everything from him. He was usually a calm man, but the gods themselves didn't know the extents a gentle man would go when everything he loved was now lost. Taiyang's semblance flared and he shot forwards in a flurry of blows towards the largest target; the Faunus. He looked to his side and saw Yang beside him, fighting with him. The only thing he had left in this world. Ruby was lost, so young and innocent. He raged.

"Dad wait! Look out!", Yang screamed.

Mercury intercepted them, he kicked upwards towards Taiyang, the kick being blocked by the raging Father. The kick being redirected and hitting Yang in the face. The kick which also held a deadly secret. Mercury's boot guns fired into the blond-haired girl's face and killed her instantly. Time froze for Taiyang as he watched what was left of his only living daughter fall to the ground in unrecognizable form.

"Yang! No!", Taiyang screamed. He froze and turned to Yang's mutilated remains and broke down completely. This was it. This was him losing everything he loved. This was what him losing everything he loved looked like.

Raven who had also been seduced by the same nightmarish image also broke down. Her only heir was now dead. She just walked slowly over to Taiyang and sat down next to him. She embraced her former lover in tears. She pulled off her sash and placed it over Yang's ruined face. Everything she'd worked for so long and tried so hard to protect was gone. Just like everyone else. She pulled out her sword and turned to Taiyang and nodded. The two former lovers thought for a moment. All was lost. Everything that mattered to them, gone. The two would fall on their own swords and be reunited in a another life. This was not how it was supposed to end. Raven looked at Arden who laughed gleefully, almost in ignorance of the death of their daughter, she saw his madness for what it was. She saw him smugly approach them and look down. Red eyes burning and staring at them in exasperation.

"Don't be fooled. A magician lies. For it is his masterwork.", Arden noted coldly.

Almost instantly, the visage of Yang's mangled corpse disappeared and in its place was the headless body of Marty. Taiyang and Raven just stared at the sight in confusion.

"For she is a magician and turns the crowd to stare at her creations. What lies behind the tricks and lies are what is actually real.", Arden noted.

Emerald just turned her attention to Arden and concentrated even harder. Mercury was beginning his sneak attack. Mercury brought his foot down towards Arden's head, it would all be over soon.

It was over far too soon for Mercury as the Mad King whirled around and grabbed his outstretched leg and shattered his kneecap with his fist. The gray-haired boy fell, now without a leg to stand on.

"Augh! Aaaaguh!", Mercury cried in pain.

"Don't cry, child...", Arden stated.

Arden turned and shot Mercury though the heart with his weapon, now turned into a viscious obsidian shotgun. A hole large enough to see daylight through was suddenly blown through Mercury's chest. Emerald screamed for her teammate as he fell, eyes dull and wide in surprise.

"No!", Emerald cried.

"Yes. Child...", Arden responded.

"I will take from you what you've taken from them. All that you love. All that you cherished. All gone.", Arden noted.

Emerald concentrated again, her illusions now stronger than she imagined towards the Mad King. She wanted him to suffer. To Suffer as she had in all of her life.

"No child, Illusions don't work on those smart enough to see through them... Pathetic. I imagined more...", Arden noted coldly.

Arden simply reached forwards and grabbed Emerald by the throat and lifted her high into the air. He looked into her eyes.

"Red eyes, just like mine. Are you? Are you mine? Perhaps in another life... Go and see if you are... For me...", Arden said.

With a flick of his wrist, Arden snapped Emerald's neck. Her eyes went dull and unfocused instantly. With a sinister grin, the threw her body to the ground. A wet snap and crackle heralded even more bones being broken on impact. Arden turned and faced his teammates.

"And the mansion is yours! Enjoy! I am a generous King. Thank you for this experience!", He called.

Arden Greyblood stepped over the dismembered Dinosaur Faunus on his way back to his throne. He stepped over the bodies of his usurper and those of his attackers. He sat on the cold stone chair and looked upon his followers. He smiled widely.

**Chapter End. The End of All things To Come. Ooh, Arden is not to be messed with. What happens to Vol. 6 now that Adam is good? Who knows? Who nose...**


	30. Reflection

XXXXX

Chapter 29: Reflection

XXXXX

Emerald watched as Mercury died. She could see right through him. She could see the Spring Maiden and that man Taiyang through the new hole through Mercury's chest. She could see Grimm:Lock falling in combat against the Mad King's minions. All was lost. Her eyes met Mercury's dead ones and she broke down. Everything was gone; Cinder, Mercury, her future. Her Semblance faded. This wasn't supposed to end like this. She cried bitter tears for all that there was right now. The End had come and it wasn't as she'd expected.

Mercury watched in abject horror as the Mad King lifted Emerald into the air by her neck, then he made a quick and violent maneuver and snapped her neck. He slammed her body to the ground and broke even more bones. He watched as his friend and rival died. _At least it was quick_, he thought. For one moment in his life he felt sad. More sad and depressed than he'd ever been. His best friend was dead. He did enjoy Emerald's criticism and her voice and her in general. Now she was gone. Never to speak or mock or anything. He broke down. _My only friend..._

Arden Greyblood looked at the two Minions. They were broken. He had broken them with his fifth Semblance. One he'd taken from a very tough opponent; Reflection. Both of them were now catatonic and twitched as their minds were broken. They were no longer a threat. He had won. The White Queen would think twice before sending her minions to Vacuo, for they might enter the _Violent_ Crown by accident. And he would enjoy that. Even the Dinosaur Faunus had fallen in combat, too stupid to get out of his own way. These two were a challenge. A true challenge for his team and his friends. He thought of a special punishment for them before he called to have them sent to the 'Hole'. He would enjoy their suffering. They'd escape eventually, but he'd savor their pain for all that it was worth until then. He smiled from his throne, he had won and his hired help deserved the 'Mansion' he'd promised. All was well in the realm of the Mad King.

Taiyang was still recovering from having his mind broken. Raven seemed unusually distant as well. He just stared at Arden. He was trying to understand why he had brought them all here if he was going to do all of the fighting by himself. He was definitely powerful enough.

"Why did you bring us here? You don't need us to help! You handled all of the combat just fine!", Taiyang exclaimed.

"There are some things you need to see for yourself. Perhaps a show of power or perhaps an intimidation. Now you know, Taiyang, just what opposition there is.", Arden mused.

"What was that? That thing with Yang!? How can you hold so much power and only use it for destruction!", Taiyang asked.

"An illusion, Xiao-Long. The White Queen has a skilled illusionist on her side. The green-haired girl. She will make you see your darkest fears. I have none anymore, for that time has already passed. Destruction? I am merely protecting my kingdom for threats. Perhaps you noticed the rings? A wizard gifted them to the protectors of the crown, a noble gift. Yet the crown was corrupt and its only true hero took the rings for himself. Each ring with the Semblance of another, tools to be used in times of darkness. And I have the whole shed.", Arden mused.

"What did you do to those two? What are you going to do with them?", Taiyang asked pointing towards Emerald and Mercury, he was full of questions today.

"Reflection. Yet another gift from the Wizard. I simply rebounded her own Semblance back to her and her cohort. They will enjoy being my pets for a while. Then I will set them free.", Arden noted.

Taiyang shuddered. He had already figured out some of the powers of the rings. One was Reflection, another was super-speed like Ruby, Raven told him he could conjure a closet full of weapons with another, he didn't want to know what the rest of them did.

"I'm sure you're aware of the gift that both the Qrow and Raven have. I was given the same by the same Wizard. For those who feed on carrion feast together. I was once like you, Taiyang Xiao-Long. A father, a lover, a friend to his friends. But I have seen the darkness within. And I was reborn. This is an offer, from me to you... Do not follow the Wizard, for he lies and manipulates those who pledge themselves to him.", Arden stated.

Taiyang shook his head. Was this the reason Raven had run off? Arden and Raven both distrusted the 'Wizard', who Taiyang had realized was Ozpin. He did trust Ozpin, their time at Beacon was one of friendship and honor. Or was it for some other reason? Ozpin had bent the rules for them multiple times and he had given the Branwen twins a rather odd gift. Maybe there were more teams like STRQ out there, Arden was definitely part of one of them, how many more were there? He really didn't want to believe the Mad King, but he had no reason not to. And he definitely didn't want to piss him off either.

"What's really going on here?", Taiyang asked.

"I'm glad you finally started asking the right questions. Ask and you shall receive...", Arden mused.

Arden gave Team MRJJ their gift, a deed to a mansion on the outskirts of the Violet Crown and sent them on their way. He had some of his strangely robotic-looking servants take Emerald and Mercury away to their punishment and he lead Taiyang and Raven farther into his own castle. For those who feast on carrion would soon feast for a fortnight.

XXX

Emerald lie on a cold stone floor. She was still alive. She glanced around trying to figure out where she was, but there were just four cold stone walls around her. Mercury was down here too, also alive and looking equally as confused.

"Em? Are you real?", Mercury asked. It was a stupid question, of course she was!

"Yes. I- I don't know what happened...", Emerald noted.

"The Mad King... I thought he killed you... Where are we?", Mercury asked, still shaking from whatever torment he was put through.

"I don't know! In a dungeon, from the looks of it.", Emerald noted.

A dull knocking from above them pulled their attention. It was the Mad King himself, glaring at them through a thick pane of glass several feet above their heads. He tapped on the glass like a child tapping on an aquarium. He smiled at them and moved away from the window.

"We're in the Hole. I've heard people talk about the Hole. Those Huntsmen we met said that the Hole was a punishment worse than death...", Mercury extrapolated.

"Why? There's got to be an escape! We have to get out of here!", Emerald panicked.

"There isn't one. This is where the Mad King puts his 'pets'. He's going to keep us in here until we die or we go mad. Can... Can you imagine? He's not going to feed us or give us water... He's just going to watch us die. He's going to watch us go insane as our primal needs take over. We're going to resort to cannibalism when one of us dies... It's... Oh gods...", Mercury sighed.

"Well we could-", Emerald paused for a moment. Her own weapons and Mercury's prosthetic feet had been taken. There was no easy way out. She sighed heavily and began to think about how hard she'd need to pound her head against the wall to do permanent damage. She really didn't want to do that, but what other choice did they have? She sighed and just sat back down in the corner next to Mercury. This was their life now, for how short it would be.

XXX

In a very unhappy purple land, Salem sighed. If the reports from her contact in Vacuo were true, then she had lost yet another pet Faunus and her two loyal minions. She glanced at Watts and Hazel who were currently 'entertaining' her. Maybe she was too hard on them, they were useful in the past, why let one screw-up end their careers. She sighed again.

"You can stop now. I'm giving you a second chance.", Salem said.

Watts and Hazel stopped their ridiculous dance routine. The White Witch had forced them to dance for her nonstop for several days in pink frilly tutus. They stopped and caught their breath.

"Watts, you need to find me yet another pet Faunus; Grimm:Lock is dead. Don't ask. Also, Sapphire and Gallium are also probably dead, so you need to go out and find me another set of minions that are named after minerals. Hazel, just go and do something with yourself. Go find Ozpin and avenge your sister or something. This repeated failure is causing me to rethink my motivations...", Salem sighed.

Salem silently dialed up Oobleck Eats and ordered a triple layer chocolate cake from a bakery in Vale. Maybe the sweet chocolatey goodness would calm her down.

XXXXX

Yang Xiao-Long finally awoke from her mental-breakdown induced hangover. She'd had too many Strawberry Sunrises at Junior's new club the night before and briefly remembered drinking an entire bottle of Ouzo in Pyrrha's house. She was in a bed somewhere, still Pyrrha's house she guessed as she looked at the decorations in the room. More trophies and a few small Pyrrha-Dolls. Either she was in Pyrrha's house or Jaune's house and the blond-haired boy had some issues. She grabbed her head in pain.

"Oh man. I feel like I just got shot in the face. My head is killing me. Is this what Qrow feels like when he wakes up?", Yang mumbled to no one in particular. Yang saw some movement in the bed next to her and then her eyes narrowed on a horrific sight.

A loud scream echoed through the house. Pyrrha covered her ears. Blake covered all four of her ears. Weiss jumped a few feet in the air. A loud banging and thumping heralded the arrival of Adam Branwen and his sudden arrival by being thrown down the stairs. Jaune thought it was a good idea to have Yang and Adam share a room. It would be the so-called 'Get Along' Room. Perhaps not. Adam wasn't dead, so this was still a victory. Pyrrha and her friends just stared at Adam's pajamas; he wore a baby-blue onesie decorated in small cow heads.

"Nice pajamas.", Jaune mocked.

"Whuh? Oh yeah. Thanks. That didn't go well.", Adam noted.

"You're not dead.", Blake noted.

Pandora just laughed at the whole thing. "This is probably the best coma I've ever been in! I don't want to wake up at all!", Pandora still thought she was dreaming. The world had gotten a lot weirder over the past few days. Everyone was in a weird place.

X

Outside in the garden, Ruby was training hard on using her newfound Silver-Eyeball Lasers with Grandma Maria. Maria rode in a small backpack as Ruby hauled the elder around.

"Concentrate! Protected, life is to be. Only then shall you become strong...", Maria stated.

Ruby just grunted and carried Maria around in circles.

"You know, when I was your age I was a well known warrior. I never even went to an Academy back then, there weren't any! I also had a thing for this young man... What was his name? Oh yeah, Archibald the Great. He was just like that Jaune fellow... Anyways, as I was saying, In order to use your... What were we talking about again? Oh right, blueberry pop-tarts, they're my favorite...", Maria rambled on, not noticing that Ruby had collapsed several minutes ago from exhaustion and just laid unconscious face-first in the dirt.

X

Oscar Pine just watched the whole scene through his own eyes. He was still just a backseat passenger on Ozpin's Wild Ride.

"Don't worry, we're one step closer to our goal.", Ozpin noted.

"What, taking the Relic to Atlas? What are we going to do there? Get another Relic? You don't _have_ any plans, old man! We're just going to fly by the seats of our pants the whole time!", Oscar cried.

"I'm coming up with one right now. I've had centuries to come up with one...", Ozpin mused.

"Then why don't you have one? Why don't you tell everyone how badly you've screwed up? You empowered a Warlord in Vacuo. You gave two thieves the ability to fly. You stole the innocence of a rising athlete. You're doing nothing but deceiving all those who trust you! Why are you so surprised when they betray you? All this because you had a bad breakup a thousand years ago? Why can't we just apologize to Salem? Is it because you'll die again? Or is it because I'll die and then you'll just have to be reborn again and again! Even that White Fang guy is trying to redeem himself, are you so blind to your own evils that you see yourself as the greater good? That you don't need to be redeemed at all? How are you so broken inside? To think that lying to all of your friends will protect them? And then stand there while they die, acting like it was heroism? Well? Say something!", Oscar raged.

"I am truly sorry, Oscar. We did as we thought was best...", Ozpin mused.

X

Yang had calmed down quite a bit. Jaune had made some kind of ridiculous reason as to why Adam had been in the other guest bed in her room. Whatever, it didn't really matter. She was still apprehensive to Adam's actual intentions. He didn't seem like he wanted to kill them, not like he'd raged about outside of Haven Academy several months ago. But it could still be a ruse, he could still be trying to hurt them somehow. He was manipulative and evil. Nobody changes overnight! She sighed, she was beginning to sound more like her mother every day. Raven was paranoid and turning into a paranoid wreck wasn't worth it. It wouldn't help her teammates if she just ran off in the middle of the night one day. She sighed again and decided to give Adam a chance. Blake was certainly giving him one. She dressed quickly and headed out to meet up with her Faunus Friends; Blake, Sun and Adam were waiting for her in the park.

"Sun! Be careful! Adam's Semblance is like Yang's! He can store up energy in his sword and unleash it!", Blake called. Sun and Adam were sparring, the monkey-man wanted to prove he was the stronger Faunus. He also wanted to beat up Adam.

"Aww yeah! Come on!", Sun exclaimed as four more Sun Wukongs assaulted Adam to no effect. Sun and his doubles were instantly knocked backwards as the flat of Adam's blade came into contact with his face. "Owwwww..."

"Haha, Sun... Here, let me show you how to counterattack...", Blake noted before pulling out Gambol Shroud and standing ready.

Adam sighed. He really didn't want to accidentally hurt Blake, but before they'd even started sparring today, she'd reassured him it was just in good faith. His mind wandered for a moment. If he hadn't met his mother, what would he be doing right now? Stalking Blake around Argus? Chasing her up a tower like a predator? Probably getting his ass kicked by Yang and then violently run over by that yellow motorcycle. His mind wandered a bit too far and he barely had time to parry the incoming attack.

"Letting your mind wander, Adam?", Blake asked.

Adam struck back with his sword, his new one now called _Exagora_ flashed out in a second and glanced off of Gambol Shroud. The two of them, both former enemies, now friends seemingly teleported around the park in friendly combat. Nobody was fighting for their lives. Sun cheered for Blake, Adam took pride in his abilities. Blake just fought on. Nobody noticed the bright yellow motorcycle approaching the park at sonic speeds. The blond-haired warrioress speeding towards her best friend.

Adam parried another attack, absorbing the energy from the slicing blow. He noticed a blur out of the corner of his eye and jumped into the sky, narrowly missing Bumblebee as it flew past where he stood and skidded to a halt in front of Pyrrha's statue. He pulled out _Exagora_ again and absorbed a blow from an attack again, this one more violently aimed at him. Shotgun blasts aimed for him, he blocked them with a few quick swings. He saw a pair of burning red eyes and slashed outwards towards them. _"I don't want to hurt anyone..._", he thought as Yang Xiao-Long fell to the ground in agony.

"Yang!", Blake exclaimed as she ran to her partner. Yang had entered the sparring match on fire again, presumably since she saw Adam with his sword out. Adam sheathed his sword and also came to aid the fallen girl.

Yang shook her head. She still had a head. She currently had a dark bruise forming across her face though, after being hit with the flat of Adam's sword. What was going on here? She thought she saw his betrayal! He was fighting Blake! Or not... Or... She'd just jumped to another conclusion.

"Are you okay?", Adam tried to say, absorbing a punch to the face with his Semblance.

"Just peachy! What... What's going on here!?", Yang asked.

"We were just sparring. The park is nice and big and it's nice here!", Sun added.

"_I'm going to have a heart attack here. It's just going to explode and then I'll be dead and I won't have to live in this ridiculousness anymore."_, Yang thought. "Oh, okay.", she said out loud.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you. My Semblance is like yours...", Adam apologized.

Yang was about to say something witty when Jaune and Pyrrha joined them. They were carrying an assortment of baked goods from the local bakery. Jaune seemed to be eating from a brown paper bag.

"Oh hey, guys -God these pretzels suck- What's going on here?", Jaune asked.

"A huge misunderstanding...", Blake noted.

"Well it looks like you're having fun! Don't forget guys, we're heading to Atlas the day after tomorrow! Better get ready!", Jaune said gleefully.

Pyrrha handed a bag of croissants to Blake and walked off after Jaune. Things were getting strange. Adam just sighed again, Yang wasn't taking to him very well, as it was to be expected given his past. He was about to attempt another apology when a diamond sword embedded itself into the ground next to him and a large black-dressed warrior appeared next to him.

"Aw... I missed the sparring didn't I?", Rhames noted sadly.

"No... You're just in time. Yang and I were about to start our match-", Blake said.

"That's okay. I wanted to talk to Adam anyways. A new brother! I have so much to tell you!", Rhames said as he grabbed the shorter Faunus and hauled him away from the park.

Sun, Blake and Yang just watched as Rhames dragged Adam away.

"What the hell is going on!?", Yang asked.

XXXXX

"What the hell is going on!?", Taiyang asked as Arden lead him further into the castle.

Arden had stopped to mock his new pets in their new home and continued to lead them into the depths of _Scaena Quintus_. Arden stopped and turned towards the blond-haired fighter.

"Rule number one: The Wizard tells lies. He does nothing but try to ensure his own survival. He has lived hundreds of years in different bodies, do you think there's a reason for that? I know you know. You know the stories and fairy-tales!", Arden said.

"Yeah? So does everyone on the inner-council. Ozpin is trying to stop Salem. Salem is an ancient evil that needs to be defeated! She's the Queen of the Grimm! What do you think is going on?", Taiyang exclaimed.

"Well, for starters, the Queen cannot be killed. So what is Ozpin planning if we're trying to kill that which cannot be killed? Are we to set a good example for our descendants that when the world lies in ruins, they will have a reason to keep fighting for us? Why should we even try to fight to begin with? Why hasn't anyone tried to reason with the Queen?", Arden mused.

"What!? I don't know!? Maybe she can't be talked to! And you, you somehow know that she can't die?", Taiyang sputtered.

"I do. She and Ozpin in his many incarnations have been fighting each-other since the dawn of time. If Ozpin is immortal, then Salem is also immortal. What we need to seek isn't death of one or the other, it's redemption... A term that is so hard to define.", Arden mused.

"How do you possibly know that!? Redemption? How do redeem the Queen of the Grimm!?", Taiyang spouted.

"And you're certain it's the Queen that needs redemption? How certain are you that Ozpin isn't the one who has become lost? Perhaps all of humanity needs to be redeemed before the wars end. And the Relics, oh the relics... And the judgment that they shall bring...", Arden mused.

"Of course! It's a classic tale of good and evil! Ozpin is the good and Salem is the evil! And the Relics? They're gifts of the gods right? Supposedly they'll lead humanity into a new golden age!", Taiyang said.

"Or they'll wipe out all of reality and kill us all... You only know what the Wizard has told you. You only know half of the story. I know the rest of it... As far as good and evil, are you sure you're on the right side of things, Taiyang? Am I good or evil? Is Raven good or evil? What are you?", Arden mused.

Arden lead Raven and Taiyang into a small room. It was circular and beheld a strange creature in the middle of it. The creature was round and had long dangling tentacles from its base. It clicked and made strange sounds as Arden entered the room. He tapped the creature on its 'head' and stepped back as an image began to form within the creature's domed face.

"Oh hey, Arden. Find anything useful?", a cold voice said.

"Not yet, but... I'm afraid those who seek power have fallen prey to those who feed on carrion. The young thief found herself in a _predicament._ They shall be sent back to you in one way or another...", Arden mused.

Taiyang shuddered. He didn't know who was speaking to Arden, but she looked horrifying. She had white skin and dark black veins covering most of her body. She just sat idly and looked a little sad.

"And Ozpin? Have you discovered his location yet?", the voice asked.

"I have found him, but he's not ready for you yet. It will be years before he's truly ready to see you again.", Arden noted.

"And the Relics? Have you secured them?", the voice asked.

"Indeed. The Relic of Knowledge is safe, trust me, my own son is guarding it.", Arden noted.

"Splendid. You've done so much for me. You have to accept some sort of tribute!", the voice said happily.

"I cannot demand much, you have already given me so much. Tata for now, I shall see you soon!", Arden said as he ended the 'call'. He turned to Taiyang and Raven. Taiyang Xiao-Long looked scared. Raven just stared at him like usual.

"Who... Who was that?", Taiyang asked.

"If you have to ask, then you don't know. Just another lost soul like us all. Another caught on the wrong side of things. We're all evil if you view us from the right side.", Arden mused.

"Why play one hand when you can play them all? Tai, Arden and I are playing both sides of the table. It's safer that way. And once you've heard the whole story, it gets easier. It really does...", Raven noted.

Taiyang didn't want to be here anymore. He just wanted to go home and feed his dog and tend to his garden. He wanted to see Ruby and Yang. He wanted to just be that normal guy everyone talked about. This was far too much for him to handle as his mind shut off and he passed out.

"Oh dear. I think we broke him...", Arden mused.

"He'll be fine. I'll meet you back in Sanctuary...", Raven mused as she cut open a portal to her family dog, Zwei. She picked up Taiyang and carried him off. Hopefully, when Tai woke up, this whole thing would just seem like some kind of fever dream.

"Kings and Queens...", Arden mused. He used his _gift_. It was a splendid gift given to him by the Wizard called Ozpin. There was a gout of shadow and a sudden burst of black feathers as Arden transformed into a black vulture. A bird of prey. For those that fed on carrion still had a few hands to eat from. He had someone to visit. And she would be glad to see him.

**Chapter End. Holy crap, Vol. 7 Comes out in November! I guess it's going to be some strange one-offs and filler content until then. That's why there's this whole Arden Greyblood arc and stuff. **

**Also, clarification: Ages of the characters. Rhames is roughly in his mid 20s around Winter's age, having had all of his adventures 4 years before Vol. 1, same with the various 'Teams' he knows from Vacuo. I'm placing Adam a few years older than Blake and Friends. All the canon characters should be around 18-19 now. Raven, Qrow, Taiyang and most of the adults are in their 40s with Raven becoming a Maiden in her early 30s.**

**Using DnD stats for the characters, Team RWBYJNPR are around level 7-9. Rhames, Adam, Team MRJJ and ATAK are around level 12. Qrow, Raven, Arden, and Taiyang are around level 17. And Ozpin and Salem would be epic level; or around 20+. Oscar Pine is level 3 because he is a smol boy. Maria and Cordovin are NPC class characters.**


	31. What Lies Within

XXXXX

Chapter 30: What Lies Within

XXXXX

Adam Branwen thought about his life for a while. He'd met his sister and gotten punched in the face and thrown down some stairs. Far less than he'd imagined happening. Blake was a lot less hesitant to trust him again, something he still couldn't believe. He also met his older brother, Rhames. He was currently being dragged through the streets by the hulking man.

"So who's _your_ dad?", Rhames asked.

"He's a judge. Judge Taurus of the Atlas Lower City. He's not a very nice man...", Adam mused.

"Oh mine isn't either. I'm the son of Arden Greyblood, the King of the Violet Crown.", Rhames stated.

"I've met him already. I believe he's my step-father now...", Adam mused.

"Really? He's back with mom, then? Well, I guess we're just one big family now! I'm as surprised as you are, it was a shock to hear that I've got legitimate siblings for once!", Rhames rambled.

"Are the rumors true? About your father? About what he did?", Adam asked. The rumors told of a man once a knight now fallen and disgraced ruling over ruins in a burning desert.

"Probably. It's not like he really told me much about himself. He has strange ideals. If you want to know what side he's on, he's not on any side. He's his own side. Not Ozpin or... Salem... He just does things.", Rhames noted.

_An impatient traveler... A man of no consequence..._ Adam thought for a moment. Arden was something else entirely. A man who didn't want the world to notice him. And he'd succeeded in that. Not even his own son knew what his plans were. And that was horrifying.

"It's like he's playing Remnant the Game with a stacked deck. Why play one side of a war when you can play them all?", Rhames mused.

Adam supposed that he was right. That was probably the most sane way to do things right now. Ozpin wasn't to be trusted, Jaune and Pyrrha definitely thought so, even though they didn't outwardly voice their opinions. Rhames took the neutral path and was simply a hired mercenary; a skilled Huntsman with nothing remarkable from his appearance. He didn't even know if this Salem person was their actual enemy or just another one of the mysterious fellows that opposed them. When he had run the Fang for Cinder, Salem seemed rather forgiving and a little loopy at times from what he could overhear. Just another bad boss like Sienna or Ghira. Different ideals, but nothing drastic. It didn't seem like Salem would be the one to show up in town cackling like a maniac and waving a rocket launcher around.

"What do you think about this whole thing?", Adam asked.

"I dunno... It's just another paycheck I guess. I have to keep this lamp thingy with me at all times and thus have to follow my sister and her friends to Atlas. I didn't go to Beacon Academy, I went to Shade. I graduated. I could honestly care less about Ozpin and whatever his quarrel is with Salem. It just seems like finding and securing these Relics is important for some reason. Maybe they'll fetch a pretty penny on the Black Market some day...", Rhames mused. "What about you? Why the sudden turnaround? You seemed pretty pissed off back in Haven..."

"I... I looked into the darkness and it stared back into me. I saw what would happen if I continued. I saw a man trapped like a rat in a cage. And I decided I needed to change...", Adam noted.

"Ah, so that's why you're here then... You met Raven and my dad. Yeah, I guess it's strange... Hearing the 'truth' as they say... Really makes you wonder what's really going on out there...", Rhames mused.

'Where... Where are we going?", Adam asked, they'd walked a fair distance from the park and had ended up near the docks.

"Ehh... I dunno. I just wanted to talk to you. Man, I feel so sorry for you. If you grew up with me, you would've been better off... If you grew up with Raven you would have been better off... I just feel like you need someone to trust. You're my brother, Adam. My _little_ brother... The big brother has to keep the little one out of trouble, you know?", Rhames mused.

Adam felt a little better. Rhames, the son of the Mad King didn't hate him or judge him for his past. Rhames had undoubtedly done some questionable things as well, being descended from the most infamous man on the planet. He also called him his _brother._ _One step closer to a family..._ Adam thought. It wasn't a perfect picture, but he felt like he actually had a chance of having what he wanted after all these years.

XXX

Pyrrha stood outside her house with Jaune. The plan was in motion and Team RWBY shared similar ideals. Ozpin had lied to them. They had seen a vision similar to Jaune's within the Relic. Jaune had correlated the similarities with them while Oz and Qrow were away. Find and secure the Relics, but keep them away from both sides. Nobody trusted Ozpin and nobody wanted Salem to have them either. Why pick a side when you could pick none? He saw it as two sides of the same coin with both sides ending in death. The only choice was no side at all.

"And you're sure... Ozpin doesn't suspect anything?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yes, Pyr. He's too busy arguing with the farm boy in his head. If anything, he already thinks we're going to fuck him over for completely different reasons. He can't do anything about it now, though. We already have the Relic and we know his secrets. Even Qrow is beginning to doubt him.", Jaune noted.

"I hope you're right. And you're certain that we have safe passage to Atlas? Cordovin seems a little off...", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, yeah. We have passage. Even if Cordie changes her mind, we still have authorization from Ironwood himself. If she goes back on her word, very bad things will happen to her when I finally _get_ to Atlas, I guarantee you that.", Jaune noted.

"It just seems like there's so much more in play right now. It's insane.", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that the Mad King, Raven Branwen, and a few others have some sort of role in this. I'm not sure yet. Adam Taurus coming back is a game changer. He's strong and on our side now, so we won't have to worry about the White Fang coming to bite us in the ass. If we're lucky, we might even be able to recruit Torchdick and Icey Creamy Girl too.", Jaune noted.

"Torch_wick_ and Neo Politan.", Pyrrha corrected.

"Yeah, that's what I said? Them... Maybe we can recruit them too!", Jaune noted.

Pyrrha just sighed and adjusted her circlet. _No heroes in the end..._ It didn't really matter. Everyone could be a hero if you looked at them right. And everyone could be a villain if you looked at them right as well. No sides. No good or evil. All lies used to paint a picture. She just nodded to Jaune and headed into her house. She needed to lie down for a while and think about this.

XXXXX

Emerald sat next to Mercury and waited to die. It had been almost a week since the Mad King had graced them with his mockery. She was dehydrated and starving. Mercury had found some beetles and both of them devoured the insects like they were a world class meal. It was getting desperate. She looked up as the glass above them shattered.

"Follow.", a cold voice said.

Emerald and Mercury didn't hesitate, they grabbed onto their rescuer's pale white hand and climbed out of the Hole. They followed their white-cloaked savior out of the castle that the Mad King called home. Mercury stumbled as best he could with no feet. They ran through the barren streets towards the front gates. Nobody stopped them. Emerald hoped this wasn't a dream. Things like this happened just before you died, fun little dreams of escape like this one.

"Freedom.", the pale woman noted.

Emerald stared at the woman for a moment. She had very pale white skin, almost silvery white hair and burning red eyes. She wore a white cloak with red accents and simply stared at them in mild confusion.

"Hap! Appa paaa! Pap! Ap! Hap ta Papapa apaaa!", a strange man exclaimed. He was very short and wore purple and orange plate mail. His armor completely covered his face, obscuring who he was and what he was.

"Silence, Timmy! We got them out, now we just need to go and get our payment! Who cares _why_ they were locked in the Mad King's palace!", another woman noted. This one looked a lot like Cinder Fall, but somehow nicer. She had dark hair that was parted over one side of her face. She wore a crimson dress with glowing Burn Dust embroidered into it. She just stared at the two disheveled minions in disgust.

"Heyoo! Alfie is here! We got the treasure!", a very strange and presumably male scorpion Faunus exclaimed gleefully as they danced around like a loon. They wore some kind of frilly belly-shirt and extremely short shorts that showed off most of their thighs. Short and butch cut hair topped their head.

Emerald sighed. More freaks. Another Scorpion Faunus out of their minds. She remembered Tyrian and his insanity, now there was another one. Alfie seemed a little more insane if that was even possible.

"Success.", the white woman noted again.

"Oh hey! We're Team ATAK. I guess we rescued you? I don't even want to know what you did to end up in there! I'm Kindel Fyre, this... thing is Timmy Rim, the scorpion is Alfie Chan and our glorious team leader in all of her pale beauty is Alabaster Blanche! We've been given strict instructions to take you to Fyrestone, the little town near here. And no, I don't own the town.", Kindel Fyre, the nicer Cinder noted.

"Hap pap!", Timmy Rim noted as held gave Emerald and Mercury some camp rations. A tin of canned meat and large canteens filled with ale.

Team ATAK just watched in disgust as Emerald and Mercury tore into the canned meat like it was their last meal and ate the salty contents inside. Kindel grimaced, that canned meat was absolutely horrible and probably made of horse meat. Alabaster raised an eyebrow as the two minions consumed half of the canteens as well. Desert Ale was also very horrible and disgusting; it was usually made with whatever liquid was available, like toilet water, and made you drunk.

Emerald and Mercury didn't care for the taste, it tasted like old tires and worn shoes dipped in urine. It was food and beer. It was something other than the alternative they'd been staring at for their long days in the Hole. The two minions had made a pact that whichever died first, the other would use them for sustenance until rescue came. They didn't have to do that now. And they were thankful.

"Ooh! They ate the rations! Alfie thinks they got to close to Desert Madness!", the scorpion noted. Alabaster glared at him.

"Right... Well... Now that you're fed, come along with us. The Monster has enough room inside for both of you.", Kindel noted.

Monster? What Monster? There was a monster? Emerald looked around for a threat and then noticed the large purple and orange truck behind the strange team. She sighed. This was definitely a fever dream.

In a few moments though, Emerald and Mercury found themselves flying over the sands in Team ATAK's Monster Truck. Timmy Rim drove like a psychopath over the sand dunes towards civilization. It definitely wasn't a fever dream. Emerald couldn't think of anything more absurd than what was happening right now. There was absolutely no way her dying mind could have come up with this if it was in fact, a fever dream.

Mercury just raised his arms in delight as they soared over the dunes in style. The strange team had gifted him a new set of feet. They didn't have any weapons built into them, but they were scavenged from old Mantle-era robots. He was just thankful for the gift of motion and was also happy to be alive next to Emerald. Whatever happened in this little town didn't matter. They were alive.

XXXXX

In a not exactly unhappy purple land, Salem paced frantically. An old friend was coming to see her. A friend who was similar, if that was possible, to her. Once beautiful and revered, now and outcast to all that they stood for. She expected the same from him, maybe a glance of sadness and an insult. She did like him, but he wasn't Ozma. She had given him as many gifts as she could've over the years, but the man didn't give her anything back. She knew, even though she had gifted him a longer lifespan, the curse of immortality would eventually catch up. She would watch him grow old and senile. She would watch him die of old age. A curse, that no matter her love for someone, it would never be fulfilled. As short as their time would be together, she wanted this. She would never get to grow old with her beloved, she would never get to enjoy their final retirement days. She still wanted this; to be loved again. She would never get to lie down and die next to her lover. She made her decision as soon as he'd arrived. Time was endless and time was a curse.

"Why so sad?", a voice called to her. She didn't even notice his entrance. He was like that sometimes.

"I'm just thinking... About Ozma again...", Salem mused.

"And in all of his incarnations, has he ever loved you? Perhaps the first one. Perhaps then, but after you gifted him the curse of immortality, did he ever love what you gave him?", the voice asked.

"I know! I wanted to think he did. The ninth one was too moody, the tenth one too rowdy, the eleventh too young, the twelfth too old. He does have dedication, though. He fights, even if he's wrong. He still comes to me when he wants.", Salem noted.

"I do enjoy what you have given me, even if I am not immortal. For the time we shall spend together warms my dark heart. Even if that time together seems so short for one like yourself. I hope you remember me when time has passed.", the voice stated.

"I know what you want. I want to give it to you. I do. How can I be sure you're loyal?", Salem asked.

"You already know I'm loyal. To visit you here, in your own home. Ozpin is too young once again. But I am just the right age. And I already secured the Relic for you. For me. There is power in this land, but nobody should ever hold it. I have ensured that for you.", the voice noted.

"Fine. I'll give you what you want. Just don't blame me when you're sick of it too.", Salem relented.

"Oh, no. I will never grow sick of such a gift. I have my perfect Queen. I have my perfect companion to guide me. And I know, you want me too.", the voice said.

Salem sighed. She didn't have the power to grant true immortality, but she did have the ability to extend his lifespan by several thousand years. In that time, perhaps he would turn against her. Perhaps he would not. Only time would tell. And then she could either take back her gift or renew it. She smiled.

"I hope you're ready for this. It won't be easy... Arden...", Salem noted.

The king smiled as he was gifted the gift he'd been waiting for all his life. To see the world burn. To see the end of all things. To go to the end of time itself. He smiled as his fallen queen gave him this curse. He smiled and knew that he was also out of time.

"Is there anything else you desire?", Salem asked.

"Oh there is. A dedicated husband provides from his wife. And I am here.", Arden noted.

A few moments later, all of the creatures of darkness left the vicinity of Salem's castle. They didn't want to be present for the things that were happening inside. They gave their lifebringer privacy as she did what she had longed desired with the King of the Mad. The castle itself shook violently as years of pent up rage melted away in an instant.

XXXXX

Raven laid Taiyang to sleep in his own bed. She started the stove and began to cook up a carrot stew with the vegetables from her lover's garden. She left as quickly as she could as she set the timer for a few hours. Taiyang would sleep off his turmoils. He would awaken thinking that all that had happened was just a nightmare. She cut open a portal to her apprentice, Vernal, and stepped through it.

Raven wasn't prepared for the sight that beheld her on the other side. Vernal had gone mad. It was obvious. The Spring Maiden in Training wasn't in the stronghold as usual. There were now banners bearing her face hanging from the parapets. A grim image with the word: "Obey" on them. Vernal had become drunk with power. Raven sighed heavily.

"Vernal!", a cry shouted. The younger girl shuddered and stepped down from the stage she was standing on.

"What have you done!?", Raven exclaimed.

"Oh... Uhh... Nothing?", Vernal sputtered.

"Oh for the love of... Alright, great, success, you've pissed me off... Good for you! Get out of here before I kill you!", Raven cursed. Vernal ran back to her safe haven that was the couch.

"Okay, enough of this madness. Go back to your regular lives! Stop _obeying_ Vernal and go back to what I told you to do!", Raven announced from the balcony. The townsfolk of Sanctuary sighed and went back to their normal lives. Vernal had run the town with an iron fist, forcing the townsfolk to bend to her every will.

Raven headed back downstairs to where Vernal was now hiding _inside_ the couch cushions.

"Vernal, just go back to being oblivious. It's probably better for your health.", Raven said in exasperation.

Vernal didn't hesitate, she just grabbed her Scroll and fired up the Amity Arena game. Being forced to be forgettable was better than being dragged out in front of the town and being publicly executed for insubordination. She sighed. Oh well, back to trying to get to Arena 9.

XXXXX

Taiyang Xiao-Long woke up in his own house. He rubbed his head. Whoa, what a weird dream! He was in Vacuo? He was also with Raven and a bunch of weird Huntsmen. He watched Yang die horribly. He jumped out of bed and grabbed his Scroll. He dialed Yang's number frantically.

"Sup, dad! How's it going?", Yang said as she answered her Scroll.

_Oh thank the gods..._ Tai thought.

"Oh nothing! Just another boring day! I made carrot stew.", Taiyang said.

"Oh. Cool. Well... I have to get going now. I've got some barely restrained anger issues to deal with right now! Bye!", Yang noted as the call ended.

Taiyang sighed. All was well. Wait... What did she say? He blinked a few times and turned on his TV. The news was on and Lisa Lavender was giving another report. He recognized Dr. Oobleck being interviewed.

"Ah, right! Well, now this is what we call the act of 'mating'! There are obviously some differences between Grimm creatures and normal animals that you should know about!", Oobleck rambled.

The news reporters were reporting on a strange phenomenon. The creatures of Grimm were mating. As in full-on doggy-style Beowolf sex. Taiyang scratched his head. He didn't think this was even possible. He remembered that the Grimm had a Queen that controlled them and pondered for a moment before taking sudden interest in the floor. _Oh gods..._ He wondered who or what would be doing _that_ right now. He shuddered and remembered a half-forgotten dream. He reached up into his upper cabinets into his emergency whiskey supply. He placed a very special bottle of Atlesian Brandy into the cabinets to keep his dog, Ruby, and Yang out of it. He uncorked the bottle and began to slip into the fuzzy warmth of ignorance.

XXXXX

Back in a not exactly unhappy purple bedroom, Salem laid back against her pillows. She let her hair down from the god-awful headgear she thought was intimidating. Yet again, she'd made the right choices. Everything was going according to plan for once. Not a single failure. She was content for now. Her lover had departed, for he had things to do and a kingdom to burn.

She thought idly about Ozma's curse. To be reborn again and again in different bodies. It was a random crapshoot of what he looked like, which was why she kept killing him over and over. Ozwald was too fat, Ozzy was too weird, Ozymandias was perfect, but he never got to her in time and was killed my the locals; apparently making your own horse a senator was frowned upon. Ozpin looked too much like she did and she felt like she was fucking her own twin brother. The new incarnation was hopefully closer to the original. Only time would tell. For now, she hoped that Arden would return again. For she had gifted him a very special gift. For she was the Queen of the Grimm and he would be the King of Demons. For Arden was still a mortal and their time together was limited. She would treasure their time together for as short as it was. She gazed upon the image of her very own Mad King on her Scroll. She hoped in hindsight that the Grimm she controlled weren't doing anything too weird at the moment.

XXX

"Cut the cameras! Cut the feed! Oh dear gods! It's horrible!", Lisa Lavender exclaimed as absolute chaos unfolded behind her. The Grimm were... doing things... that... Nobody should ever see ever. She jumped into her newsvan and left Oobleck to the creatures. He'd be fine. Probably. He was a Huntsman, he knew how to handle this.

"Oh hahaha... Well. This is an odd turnaround... No. Wait... Not that! Oh god!", Oobleck exclaimed as a pack of Beowolves tore his clothing off and pounced on him. Unspeakable things were done to the disheveled man.

XXXXX

Outside of Argus, Cinder Grimm felt violated for some reason. She didn't know why. She just felt... wrong. Was it perhaps her old conscience awakening again? Nope, this was something else. A brand new feeling of disgust. The feeling only intensified when she become acutely aware of a pack of Grimm following her. They weren't acting quite right. They stared at her. She didn't like this feeling she was feeling.

"Go away!", Cinder growled. The Grimm just came closer. They didn't bare their fangs, but instead went for a much more awkward approach.

Cinder Grimm whimpered quietly as she realized what was happening. She then remember who she served and that if the Queen of the Grimm could control the monsters, then she could as well. It was soon discovered, that her new form could instill fear into the hearts of men, but she could sway the black voids that beat soundlessly in the bodies of the Grimm. The Grimm were just as easily swayed as the hearts of men. A subtle glance and a few sultry poses and the Grimm horde followed her every move. Cinder Grimm smiled, was this how Salem felt? The power she wielded over the destruction she desired?

Cinder turned to the vicious Beowolf now turned lapdog that playfully sat beside her. A beringel beat its chest in pride as she lead her new army towards the now doomed city of Argus. Cinder was no longer a Maiden, she was something far more powerful. If Salem didn't take her back into her good graces, then she would replace the Queen herself.

**Chapter End. Oh yes, let's ship Salem with Ardyn Izunia from FFXV. It works, it just does, don't judge me. **

**A few of the team members of Team ATAK are from my other less successful fic, RWBYlands: The Huntsman Collection; Alabaster herself is based off of another character from a different time back when I was still writing Final Fantasy Fanfiction. (Circa 2003). The rest of them are based on a few Achievement Hunters and the name of a cheap tablet because I couldn't think of a better name for a Cinder Fall parody.**

**Anyways, the next few chapters contain some 'filler' I mentioned. More exposition, more attempts at making this as close to AU canon as possible and more weird humor. **


	32. Across the Universe

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Chapter 31: Across the Universe

XXXXX

**Five X's with spaces between the X's ( X) designates a transition to a parallel universe. It's getting wibbly-wobbly!**

It was night. It was the day before Team JNPR and RWBY were to leave Argus. Jaune and Pyrrha shared a bed in her house. The red-haired spartan slept soundly in the arms of her beloved blond-haired gunslinger. Her peaceful sleep was interrupted rather violently as her strange dream of another world was shattered.

She stood back in the courtyards of Beacon Academy. It was peaceful and almost a little too cheerful. Everyone was friends with each-other and even Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick were there. They were strangely incompetent like comic book villains and got into weird situations. Jaune wasn't her Jaune, he was silly and a little stupid. She watched him try and fail to win over Weiss Schnee's affection repeatedly. Her vision shattered like glass, a million shards of the small happy scene breaking like a mirror.

Pyrrha was left standing in what she could recognize as Ozpin's office. The walls were gone, not broken down or ruined like the Battle of Beacon, but just gone. A thousand shards of mirrored glass floated in front of her. She stared at her own reflection as it stared back at her.

"What are we doing? Is this the right thing?", one of Pyrrha's reflections asked.

"Of course! We're doing what we couldn't do before! We're the Fall Maiden now and Jaune is the Lord of Time! We can do anything!", Pyrrha told her reflection.

"Are you sure about that? What if Jaune was different? What if he didn't have his Semblance?", the reflection asked.

"If Jaune didn't have his Semblance, then _you_ and _I_ know that we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"You're not supposed to be here.", the reflection noted sadly.

"Of course I am! Where else would I be? Dead and scattered as dust on the wind? What exactly do you think would've happened if I wasn't there for my teammates?", Pyrrha shouted to the fragments.

"They would've benefited. They would've gotten stronger. You would've helped them with their own issues. A sacrificial lamb as some would say.", her reflection noted.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not dead! I'm alive! Take that, _Fate_!", Pyrrha exclaimed again.

"Maybe you should be...", the reflection said as it suddenly turned into another Pyrrha. It looked at her in sadness.

The reflection was similar to her appearance at Beacon. It still wore her old brown bodice, but lacked the Trevali mail she had bought. Pyrrha stared at the clone. Its skin was cracked with flames seemingly bursting from the cracks. A burning glass arrow pierced its chest and ankle. It just gazed at the real Pyrrha in sadness and failure.

"What are you!?", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"I'm you, but you failed.", the reflection noted.

"Well, I didn't fail. I'm stronger than you were. I'm faster than you were. And that means I was able to kill Cinder when you failed. And that's better than anything else in the world right now. I'm a Maiden. I'm alive. And I've got the best boyfriend in all of the universe!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

Pyrrha reached out with her Semblance and pulled the shards inwards. She didn't expect anything to happen since the fragments were made of glass, but they moved. The shards were pulled inwards and reformed into a new vision. A war. Airships were pulled from the skies and fell downwards into hordes of Grimm. A purple beam of hatred shot across the skies.

"Pyrrha, let's kill these _savages_!", a voice asked. It was insane and unhinged. Pyrrha recognized it. She raised her hand to the skies and pulled down Atlesian battleships. She saw that same purple beam strike out again, like a sword made of ether. She watched as hundreds of Grimm burned and she smiled. She watched as the Grimm turned into human soldiers and burned. She smiled. She watched as the human soldiers turned into versions of her friends. And she smiled as they burned.

"Burn them all, Pyrrha! Burn them all! Burn them all!", the voice called.

Pyrrha just stared at the scene in front of her. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. She felt a little bad, but the feelings quickly went away when she saw Jaune. He stood proudly at the controls of a large cannon. He was dressed as an Admiral and looked strong.

"Come on, Pyrrha. Join me. Come on. I'll let you do it. Come on...", he called.

Pyrrha just walked up to the controls next to Jaune and clasped his hand. Together, the two of them pushed the big red button on the control panel. A purple beam of energy washed over the broken burning lands and cleansed it. And in the wake of the world around her, Pyrrha saw power beyond her wildest dreams. She saw a bright future and she loved it.

"We were born from the world's destruction. We are gods. We are gods!", Jaune exclaimed.

Pyrrha just nodded to him. It was worth it. No more Salem, no more Ozpin. No more whiny little teammates. Nothing left. Just the two of them. The rightful King and Queen of the world. For she was to be burned to ashes and scattered on the wind. The world bent to her will and was burned instead. Risen from the ashes, a new world was born. A better world.

XXX

Pyrrha moaned softly in her sleep next to Jaune and grabbed him a little tighter. Jaune slept restlessly. He was having a vastly different experience than Pyrrha. He stood at her statue and gazed up at it again. The large bronze statue seemed to shed a tear. He just turned to Pyrrha and embraced her lightly.

"I'll always be there for you, Jaune...", Pyrrha noted as she turned to dust in his arms and scattered on the wind.

"Pyrrha!? No! No! Don't leave me!", Jaune exclaimed as he watched Pyrrha disappear. He was alone in the park with just a statue and a sad memory of his beloved who had died during the Battle of Beacon. He looked around in confusion. _This never happened_... The park and its red brick walls still stood, as did the statue, but the town around him had shattered like a broken mirror. A thousand versions of himself stared back.

"Who are you? You're not me...", one of the Jaunes said.

"And you're not me!", Jaune exclaimed.

One by one, the many fragments landed next to him and shattered on impact, They reformed into a full version of Jaune and turned towards the original. Jaune stared at the double. It had new armor and a new sword. No guns. The armor was modified to have Pyrrha's circlet integrated into it.

"Where did you get that?", Jaune asked his double.

"From a friend...", Alt-Jaune noted.

"Is she alright?", Jaune asked.

"No... But, it's what she would've wanted. She didn't want us to mourn for her. She knew what she was doing. And she still guides me, even if she isn't here right now...", Alt-Jaune noted sadly.

"I see... I see...", Jaune noted.

"I just hate saying goodbye. It seems so final. It's better to say, they're just not here right now...", Alt-Jaune said.

Jaune began to piece some things together. This didn't seem like a dream. The alternate version of himself spoke things he didn't believe in. He was almost sure of what was going on right now.

"How many siblings do you have, Jaune?", Jaune asked Alt-Jaune.

"Huh? I have seven sisters. Don't... Don't you have that many?", Alt-Jaune noted.

"Nope. I haven't got any. Only child here. Heir to Hyperion of Atlas.", Jaune noted.

"Hyperion? I... I don't know what that is... What is this?", Alt-Jaune asked.

"Well, it's not a dream, kiddo. I think I've officially broken time and space. You know, I've been seeing little bits and pieces of the worlds between worlds. I was really curious if those were just possibilities or... If I was actually seeing an alternate universe.", Jaune extrapolated.

"An alternate universe? Wha-... Is... Is... Pyr-", Alt-Jaune stammered.

"Hate to break it to you, but yeah. Pyrrha is fine and dandy. She's even the Fall Maiden!", Jaune noted.

"Oh... Is there anything else different?", Alt-Jaune asked.

"Oh, tons. I've got money. I can control Time. I've even got passage to Atlas. I have a lot of influence in my world. You're probably going to do something stupid aren't you? Like stealing an airship or something right?", Jaune said.

"Well... You're not far off...", Alt-Jaune noted.

"Oh geez. Kiddo, you gotta work on some things. If you want to be like me, first of all. First, is an ego. Second is to stop moping around. Third, you need to cheer up... I can help you with that... Well, I don't even know if this is going to work since this might be a dream for you... But here, take my Scroll. If Pyrrha is... gone... In your world, you're going to enjoy all the pictures and videos of mine.", Jaune said as he gave the alternate version of himself his Scroll.

"What?", Alt-Jaune asked.

"Yeah, kiddo. Don't go crazy. It's nothing lewd. Just fun times. Hey, maybe we might even see each-other again someday...", Jaune noted.

Jaune watched his double fade out again. The world crumbled into shards of glass as the strange vision dissipated into nothingness. Jaune awoke abruptly also awakening Pyrrha as well. He jumped up suddenly and accidentally catapulted the spartan onto the floor where she woke up and just glared at him.

"Oh, sorry! Just a bad dream...", Jaune apologized.

"Yeah... Me too.", Pyrrha noted.

X

Jaune Arc stood in the middle of Argus' park. He was just talking to another woman. The woman had been eerily similar to Pyrrha and had spoken words of thankfulness to him before disappearing. He'd turned back to the statue for a moment and noticed another Jaune also standing there with him. After a very bizarre experience, he'd been surprised by Nora and Ren who had finally found him. They brought him a coffee. He didn't really know what had just happened. He turned and looked back at the statue as he left with his teammates and noticed the bouquet of red lilies left the the foot of the statue.

"Hey, Jaune! When did you get a new Scroll?", Nora asked.

"Huh?", Jaune said as he looked down and realized he was holding a Scroll. It wasn't his. It was gold and bronze with a prominent H-symbol on the back. "Uhh... Just now. I guess."

A few moments later, Jaune had locked himself in the guest room of his sister's house. Something very strange had happened to him. Something he really couldn't explain. He stared at the Scroll and pressed the button to open it. Facial Recognition Lock blinked at him. He cursed silently.

"Welcome back, Jaune Arc!", the Scroll chimed as it unlocked.

Jaune fumbled for a second almost dropping the device and looked at its main screen. The wallpaper on the Scroll was of Pyrrha and himself standing outside of a small house in Argus. A few faces he didn't recognize also stood with them. This wasn't him, this had never happened. He tapped on the photo gallery.

A gallery of fun times with the late Pyrrha Nikos opened up. Pyrrha wore different armor this time. It was made of the remnants of her old weapons. She carried a new spear and shield. She looked so happy. A few of the files were actually videos. Jaune tapped on a few of them and enjoyed the memories of a man who was just like him. He enjoyed memories that weren't his. He enjoyed watching Pyrrha, happy and alive alongside her Jaune in her own world. Hesitantly, he opened up the contacts folder on the Scroll and went down to Pyrrha's name. He tapped on the contact and tried to make a call.

X

"You lost your Scroll?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah... Sorta... I just need to go down to the shops and buy a new one. I'll be right back!", Jaune said as he left Pyrrha standing in the middle of her living room. Jaune could be absentminded some days, but losing his Scroll? She just shook her head and adjusted her circlet.

Pyrrha was about to head back upstairs to pack when her Scroll chimed. Jaune was calling her. From his old Scroll. She fished it out and hit the 'answer' button.

"Jaune! How many times do I have to tell you-", Pyrrha was cut off.

"Pyrrha!? Is... Is... that you?", the voice was garbled and the call was full of static, like it was being sent from very far away.

Pyrrha just squinted, Jaune had just left her house. He couldn't be more than 40 feet outside the door right now.

"Uhh, yeah? Jaune, what's going on? Is this Jaune? Hello?", Pyrrha asked.

"Oh my gods! It's you! You're okay! I can't believe it. I... I just want to tell you...", the voice rambled.

Pyrrha adjusted her circlet. The voice on the other side didn't sound like Jaune, the voice was too high-pitched and nasally. She decided to just humor whoever was on the other side of the line with Jaune's Scroll. With her luck, it was probably a _fan._

"I... I just wanted to tell you... Thanks. Thank you for everything. I miss you. But as long as you're happy... I'll be happy. It was great to talk to you again...", the voice said.

"No, thank you. Thank you for everything. Without you, I wouldn't have ever gotten to where I am now. I don't know if we're ever going to see each-other, but just keep fighting. Just keep working hard and you'll get there. Even though I'm not there right now, fight like I'm right beside you. I always will be.", Pyrrha said. She hoped she wasn't going too over the top for her unknown fanboy on the other end of the line.

"T-Thank you, Pyrrha. Farewell...", the voice said as the call ended.

Pyrrha just looked at her Scroll. She thought Jaune had called her, but now her Scroll just showed 'Unknown Name' on the contact. She just sighed. She probably made some pathetic fanboy's day. She could only imagine the types of guys that would make this call. They usually had an interesting choice in head-wear and facial hair.

Jaune returned a few moments later with his new Scroll. It was almost the same as the one he had before. He turned it on and began to upload his backup data to it. Pyrrha just stared at him for a moment.

"So what exactly happened to your old Scroll anyways?", she asked.

"Well... I'm not exactly sure. I had a really strange dream last night. Like _really_ weird. I gave it to an alternate version of myself because you died in his universe. Then it was just gone. Like it just disappeared. Crazy, right?", Jaune noted.

"Yeah... Crazy...", Pyrrha sighed.

X

Jaune just held the Scroll in front of him. He stared at it in shock for a long time. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore. He saw things. He dreamed of things. He also talked to someone who shouldn't have ever been able to answer. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Jaune? You've been in there for a really long time. Come out!", Nora called.

"Y-Yeah... I'll be right out in a moment.", Jaune said. He still wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not.

X

"So let me get this straight. You gave your Scroll to a dream version of yourself and then your Scroll just suddenly disappeared? Like it was just nowhere?", Pyrrha asked incredulously.

"Err, yeah. I think my Semblance is breaking things. Like time and space...", Jaune noted.

"Okay... That would explain the weird call I got just after you left... I guess...", Pyrrha said.

"What?", Jaune asked back.

"Well, I got a call from an unknown number. It... sorta sounded like you, but... different. Jaune, what did you do?", Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know! Maybe my Semblance is evolving or something!? Every time I use it, I see _visions_ or something! Like things that could've happened!", Jaune exclaimed.

"Do they look like cracks? Like a vision between the cracks of a mirror just before your vision blurs?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yes! Exactly! That's exactly what I see. Have you seen the same?", Jaune noted.

"Well... When you used your Semblance on me... I did see some kind of alternate world. Just bits and pieces, nothing definite. It's strange. It's almost like you're crossing over between timelines every time you use your Semblance.", Pyrrha said.

"Yeah... About that... How many others do you think are out there? Are there alternate timelines for everything we've done? Every choice we've ever made?", Jaune mused.

"I guess. I guess we're just seeing our own timelines. Just us, since we're... well... Together.", Pyrrha said.

"I wonder what else is out there...", Jaune mused.

The two lovers thought for a moment. What could've possibly gone differently with their friends? It was a thought that entertained them for the rest of the morning. Timelines and endless possibilities of what could've happened, but didn't.

XXXXX

In the desert, nobody remembered your name. Because the desert was devoid of any rain. Emerald and Mercury were in a small town with a forgettable name. Fyrestone, of all places. At least it had a train station that would take them back towards Vale City. The two minions sighed heavily and walked towards the Huntsmen's Lodge alongside their new friends.

"Payment.", Alabaster noted.

Kindel Fyre and the rest of Team ATAK headed off to turn in their 'rescue' mission. Emerald and Mercury still weren't sure who had paid a team of Huntsmen to rescue them or why they were important to them. Salem would've probably enjoyed watching them die of starvation and madness in a hole in the ground. The two of them just sighed and headed towards the only notable building in town.

"Hap!", Timmy Rim exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah. He says to be careful out there! If you're heading back to Vale, I heard the battle between the Unions has come to a truce. It's really quite nice there now.", Kindel noted.

"Alfie says to be careful too! We got paid by a mysterious traveler!", the scorpion said.

Emerald just sighed. It was always mysterious travelers. Arden posed as one and then betrayed and threw them into a Hole. They were free now. They'd have to make their way back to the Blighted Crucible and face Salem. That would be an experience. She shuddered and imagined her own death. Maybe she'd be nice to them and offer them out to tea? It was entirely too hopeful. Her own death and Mercury's awaited her. She might as well go and join Ozpin's Flying Circus. She sighed.

"Em? You know we need to go and tell Salem what happened... If we don't, then... We're dead.", Mercury said.

"If we do, then we're still dead!", Emerald exclaimed.

"Well, she could pardon us...", Mercury noted.

Emerald sighed again even harder. Death or more painful death. There weren't any ways around it. She just gave up and bought the train tickets. It would probably be a few days, before they were back in Salem's horrible castle. They could think of ways to place the blame on the trip there.

XXX

As Emerald and Mercury departed, Alabaster Blanche pulled her teammates aside. She was slightly concerned. Their payment had been provided. It was more than they had ever received as Huntsmen. It was also a very strange request.

"Deception?", the team leader asked.

"Hap! Hap Pap!", Timmy noted.

"Oh, really? We just got paid by the Mad King to retrieve his property. It doesn't matter what happens next!", Kindel scoffed.

"Alfie doesn't want to know. Alfie thinks we should just enjoy our riches.", Alfie Chan said.

"Sorrow.", Alabaster noted. The pale assassin felt a little sad for the two they had rescued. The Mad King was playing dangerous games.

XXXXX

Raven Branwen paced around in her abode. Vernal was back to playing her usual games and ignoring the obvious. Doctor Stannis was rambling as usual and Scarlet David and the two other guys, Cardin and Russel were off patrolling the town. She patiently awaited the madness that followed her.

"And what did he say again? Beware the madness that follows the unkindness? For those who feed on carrion feast for a fortnight? Strange words for the lord of light walks among us in many forms...", Stannis rambled.

Raven facepalmed again. Stannis was unusually coherent today. A burst of black feathers heralded the arrival of the King of the Mad.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that. It was bad enough when Ozpin made me and my brother birds, but then finding out he also made you one as well? It just reminds me why we don't follow that idiot anymore.", Raven noted.

"Is that all?", Arden asked.

"No. What did you do, Arden. Your cravat is missing. What did she say?", Raven asked.

"Oh my, I may have left the cravat in the Witch's wardrobe. No matter, she knows what she needs to. She does not suspect you at all. Her minions are free and they will only continue to perpetuate the confusion. A lover's quarrel spanning centuries is all that it is.", Arden noted.

"Okay... But, what did you do? How did you get back alive again?", Raven pressed.

"The witch still has a heart. I simply stabbed her a lot.", Arden noted.

"I highly doubt that, Arden...", Raven said.

"If you know _where_ to stab her, you can stab her as many times as you want. I simply did just that...", Arden said.

Raven stared at him for a moment. This was probably a metaphor for some reason. She didn't ask anything else; Arden was probably going to spout off more madness.

"Are you done here? I _defended_ your kingdom. You brought me my lost children. I see no reason for you to stay here any longer.", Raven stated.

"And you are correct. I bid you adieu, for I am a man of no consequence, an impatient traveler waiting for the right winds. Keep being the eyes and ears, my dear. I'm sure we'll see each-other again.", Arden concluded. He left the fortress and took to the skies once again. A black vulture eyed Raven for a several moments before heading away.

Raven sighed. Arden Greyblood was gone, for now at least. She could finally get back to doing what she was doing before. She could go back to being the eyes that watched the liar.

XXXXX

A small alcove with a peaceful waterfall stood outside of Argus. It was high in the mountains away from prying eyes. A long rock archway spanned two cliffs. Two heroes faced off against a threat. A red bladed sword swung outward against a black blade. A shadow disappeared and reformed.

"I really don't want to do this...", Adam said.

"Stop being a coward!", Yang exclaimed.

Adam Branwen barely had enough time to counter the blast that was aimed at him. He grabbed _Exagora _and swung back. He burst forwards in a flurry of blow against the blond-haired fighter, jumping off of her own counterattacks and hurling his new sword at her. He jumped and swung, then he missed and took a flurry of blows from the fighter. He pulled his sword halfway and blocked a half-dozen shots from Yang, then he let his Semblance flare.

Yang couldn't keep and eye on Adam, he circled her like a bird of prey before slamming her backwards. He jumped high into the air and came crashing down, letting loose a blow of bright red energy that collided with her and knocked her back. She jumped again, landing another several blows before contacting the blade of his sword. A blast of energy sent her flying backwards. She slid to a halt next to Blake.

"Yang!"

Adam unleashed his Semblance, a surge of energy and a sudden blast wave slammed into Yang and pushed her further backwards. Yang still stood. She smiled at him and beckoned. She taunted him forwards. He really wasn't expecting Blake to come at him from the side. He dodge and swung against the Faunus' boot, throwing her away from him. He focused on Yang for now. He slammed a downwards slice on the blond-haired fighter.

Yang sighed as Blake flew over her head. She just focused on Adam and concentrated her Semblance against his. He swung downwards with his sword. She caught the blade. The two of them stared at each-other in surprise. Yang simply twisted her arm around and threw Adam across the chasm.

Adam soon figured out that bulls cannot fly as he flew off the bridge entirely. He landed in a heap of pain on a small outcropping before tumbling backwards into the water. He could hear Yang cheering high above him.

Several moments later, Adam had been dragged from the swirling waters. He sat next to Blake and Yang as they rested. It had been a long and strange few days. A few things began to irk Blake as she sat and thought about Adam's return as a Huntsman.

"Not bad. You've been training.", Adam noted.

"Training to fight _you._ That went better than I expected.", Yang noted.

"Hey, I said I wasn't looking for a fight. You dragged me out here.", Adam said.

"Yeah, I did. I really needed to. We can't fight in the park anymore, the police sorta didn't like that last time we did...", Blake noted.

"It was sorta anti-climactic for a final battle, though. I really expected more from you, Adam.", Yang said.

"It wasn't even a battle, Yang. We were just sparring.", Blake noted.

"Meh, whatever.", Yang scoffed.

"Adam. I was wondering. You're Yang's brother, right? Though your mother... But you have a younger brother too... What happened to Fjord?", Blake asked.

"Oh! Err...", Adam hesitated.

"Fjord? Who the hell is Fjord?", Yang exclaimed.

"Fjord Taurus. He is Adam's younger brother.", Blake noted.

"Is he also my brother?", Yang said.

"No. I don't think so. Fjord would be the legitimate child. My father had all sorts of affairs in Atlas. I guess it's the reason he was the favorite child.", Adam mused.

"What happened to him? I haven't seen or heard from him since Haven.", Blake noted.

"Well... He tried to poison Sienna. Then he was caught and thrown into the Under-Darkness. If he hasn't used his Semblance to escape yet, then I have no idea what happened to him. Maybe he still works for the Fang?", Adam mused.

"What's his Semblance?", Yang asked.

"Oh, nothing special. We're both Bull Faunus, so his is... Charging? He can run through walls and things. It does a number on his skull, so he's a little... Slow.", Adam noted.

"Do you think he would oppose us?", Blake asked.

"No. He's too dumb to do that.", Adam said.

Yang glanced at the holographic display on her prosthesis, it was starting to get late. They had to be in Atlas tomorrow morning. They had walked all the way out here and it would be nearly dark when they finally go back to Argus. She stood up.

"Time to go. It's getting late.", Yang noted.

"Have you cooled off enough now, Yang?", Blake asked.

"Yeah. Besides, I've got another brother and he's even crazier.", Yang said.

Blake just wondered what was going on right now. She would've never dreamed of Adam coming back as a hero. She thought, for the longest time, that he was beyond saving. Somehow, he had come back and was ready to redeem himself. Her ears perked up as she heard the approach of a vehicle.

"Yeah. I already met Rhames. He's a wildcard...", Adam mused.

The sound got louder, only Blake could hear it.

"Adam! Look out!", Blake screamed. She was too late.

Adam shot a look of confusion to Blake just in time to miss a blue bicycle flying off the cliffside. The bicycle collided with the Bull Faunus and knocked him to the ground in agony. A blond-haired fool rolled to a stop.

"Aww. I missed out on the fun! You can't have Faunus Fun without Sun!", Sun noted.

"Whyyyy...", Adam groaned from the ground.

XXXXX

In a purple boardroom, Salem stared in utter confusion at the new 'pet' Watts had sent to her. This new pet was as large as Hazel and wore some kind of harness on his chest. He wore a simple set of leather pants and a large rounded helmet. His horns protruded off his skull. He wore a large gold nose ring and grunted at the sight of her.

"Okay, Watts. Explain. Now.", Salem said apathetically.

"It's Fjord Taurus! The brother of the infamous Adam Taurus! He's really interested in helping us since his brother was killed by a Branwen! He even has a special power, he can run through walls and people like they were made of paper! He's unstoppable!", Watts announced.

"Right. Just like you said about whatshisname, Grimm:Lock or whatever.", Salem scoffed.

"No really! He's a great fighter. He even escaped from the Under-Darkness, a nigh inescapable dungeon...", Watts noted.

"So his special ability is crashing into things with reckless abandon? I wonder how that's going to help us...", Salem sighed.

"Just wait and see! I promise this is the best one yet!", Watts said.

"You'd better hope so. If he's not, I'm dressing you in a chicken-suit and _you_ can be my new pet.", Salem sighed again.

Watts just chuckled nervously. That was a fate worse than death.

XXXXX

Ilia walked through a long hallway. She didn't expect to ever be back here. It had been a long few months since her return back to Menagerie; she had formed the Knightshade, a new group to oppose Adam Taurus and his splinter group of the White Fang. A group that had trained long and hard for the eventual conflict. However, Adam Taurus had been killed by one of Raven Branwen's sons and now no longer lead any of the White Fang. Fjord Taurus had gone missing and Sienna Khan had finally been cured of whatever illness had placed her in the White Fang's restroom for several months straight. Ilia just sighed, she was bringing the two Albain brothers to Sienna, Forsac and Ballsac or whatever their names were.

"You grace... I have brought Forsac and Ballsac Albain to you...", Ilia announced. Sienna Khan just stared at her.

"Hey! That's Corsac and Fennec, you idiotic lizard!", the brothers exclaimed.

"Silence!", Sienna shouted. Her guards collected the two fox Faunus from Ilia, who had turned a slightly paler shade. "Ilia, right? In all honesty, Ghira had his heart in the right place after all. Adam was a loose cannon and his brother was as dumb as a bucket of hair. Even these two are a disgrace to all Faunus..."

"Yes, they are...", Ilia said quietly.

"And you are the leader of your own group now, as I have heard.", Sienna noted.

"Yes, I am...", Ilia responded.

"I believe we are going to need to have a meeting. Your forces and mine. The White Fang needs to change. It will die a slow death if it does not. I propose a formal meeting in Menagerie. I will fly down to meet with the Belladonna family. Perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement.", Sienna mused.

"I agree. There has been nothing but chaos as of lately...", Ilia mused.

Sienna Khan regarded the small chameleon fondly. Ilia had grown and had become a strong leader just like Blake. In just a few more days, the two leaders would meet and perhaps a new dawn of the Faunus would rise.

**Chapter End. Endings and more endings. More filler to come and a big battle before Vol. 7 releases. I can do a few separate side-stories for some of the minor characters in the meantime, particularly the Mad King, Alabaster and her group, and Rhames and Team MRJJ. Just finished reading After the Fall, which I highly recommend. **


	33. Chapter Huh What?

XXXXX

Chapter Hunhh: Alt-takes and more

XXXXX

**This chapter is an interim chapter of weird ideas and other story elements and possible cross-overs I've been thinking of writing. Still RWBY and still weird. Lemme know in the reviews/comments if I should turn any one of these into a stand-alone. Waiting for Vol. 7 to end before I corrupt the story some more. I haven't forgotten about you lot. Borderlands 3 came out and I've been playing the Witcher.**

XXX

Alternate Take: Beacon Tower

XXX

High above in the Beacon Tower, Cinder Fall looked at the Wyvern she commanded. She was interrupted by a spear and a shield flying towards her, followed by the Spartan, who had grabbed a few fistfuls of Maiden Power. Pyrrha launched towards the wacky mid-life crisis girl.

"...Really?", Cinder noted.

"Time for you do pay for what you've done!", Pyrrha said as she kicked off the wall towards Cinder. She pulled her weapons back and attacked again, hitting Cinder with a grazing shot and cutting her opponent's arm.

"Well, then. Let's begin..." Cinder said calmly.

Pyrrha attacked first, using the small amount of Maiden magic to hold Cinder at bay. She launched her shield, hitting Cinder in the face a few times, marring the woman's beauty. Cinder raged. Glass fragments launched towards Pyrrha, deflected by the nanofibre mail. Pyrrha floated upwards, kicking off the ceiling to land behind Cinder. She pulled her sword and held it to the woman's throat.

"You'll never win, Cinder. It ends tonight!", Pyrrha called into Cinder's ear.

Cinder heated the blade of the sword before sundering it.

"And you won't either. Maiden versus Maiden and I've got more experience than you'll ever know...", Cinder called.

Pyrrha looked shocked. Her weapon was gone. She really didn't know how much Maiden power she had gotten or how to use it. She used her Semblance on the metal in the room, pulling clockwork gears off the walls and into Cinder. She attempted to crush the strange woman with the weight. It didn't work.

Cinder fought back, she tossed the imprisoning gears like they were nothing. Pyrrha stood back as the gears flew past her. A fragment of one of the gears slammed into her, knocking her to the ground with her shield just out of reach. Pyrrha looked at Cinder in realization. _Destiny_.

Using her Semblance, Pyrrha called her shield to her. She threw it out with the last of her Semblance and Aura towards Cinder Fall. The momentum would hopefully decapitate the older woman. In the same instance, Cinder conjured a glass arrow and fired it. Pyrrha's shield shattered the arrow on impact, but the arrow reformed again with Cinder's Semblance and continued its trajectory. It hit Pyrrha in the ankle, bringing her to the ground as her shield flew off into the distance.

Pyrrha gasped as the arrow struck her ankle. She pulled the arrow out and attempted to stand again. Without her Aura, she fell back down again, this time facing her attacker.

"Awh. So determined. How does it feel to have a power you were never meant to have? Does it feel good to be a Maiden? Or at least part of a Maiden? Or don't you feel anything at all, because you have nothing? You are nothing! You're just a waste of good looks and flesh!", Cinder mocked.

Pyrrha just tried to scoot herself away from Cinder. Her _destiny_ was coming. She realized that she could never escape it. She thought of Jaune and what he'd said. Of what their lives would be if this had never happened. She thought of herself, old and gray, surrounded by grandchildren recounting her stories, an elderly Jaune by her side embellishing every moment. A future she would never have. Tears crept from the corners of her eyes.

"Do you believe in _destiny_?", Cinder asked as she pulled back another arrow, this time aimed at Pyrrha's chest.

"Yes.", Pyrrha responded.

The arrow fired. Time seemed to slow as it sped towards the red-haired warrior. She closed her eyes as she realized what her _fate _was. The arrow hit, burying itself into her chest. A fire crept through her body as the light began to fade from the world.

Cinder fall simply mocked the spartan. Pyrrha couldn't hear what the raven-haired lunatic was saying. She could only feel fire as it burned. The feeling suddenly spread to her limbs and she felt the fire creep up into her face.

"_I don't want to go...", _Pyrrha thought.

Ruby and Jaune crested the apex of Beacon tower. The duo saw their best friend in agony, an arrow piercing her chest and a raven-haired lunatic standing over her gloating. A bright light quickly washed over everyone as Pyrrha's form was engulfed in a bright light.

Cinder Fall reeled backwards. She was gloating as usual. She held up the dying spartan's head and mocked her. A fierce determination soon washed over the dying girl's face as light exploded forth.

"Aaaauuugh!", Pyrrha screamed. The glow was coming from her own body as it was engulfed by golden light. The top of the tower shook and began to collapse. The feeling of fire and burning intensified for a moment before it faded away completely. Pyrrha wasn't sure what had just happened, she stood up in confusion; she didn't feel quite right. What had just happened? Where was she? Who was she? She looked at herself for a moment.

"Ooh! Oh! Legs! I've got legs!", She exclaimed as she felt for her own legs.

"And hands! Lots of fingers!", She noted flexing her hands.

"Hair! Brilliant hair! Still ginger...", She noted again.

"Am I still a girl? Yep, still a girl.", She said as she felt her own chest.

Pyrrha stumbled around in confusion for a moment, taking in her surroundings. The top of Beacon Tower was collapsing. A prone and unconscious Cinder Fall was a few meters away. A large and fearsome Grimm was frozen in stone. Another shockwave shook the tower.

"I'm forgetting something... Oh! Right. I was fighting... And now... I'm... Falling? I'm falling!", Pyrrha exclaimed as the floor beneath her feet gave way and sent her tumbling from the top of Beacon Tower.

"Geronimooooo!", Pyrrha exclaimed, taking in the exhilaration as she spread her arms and drifted towards the ground below. She didn't even notice the newfound powers of the Fall Maiden taking hold and allowing her safe flight from the crumbling structure.

Landing on the ground below, Pyrrha spied her own reflection in a puddle. She was still red-haired and slender. Her hair was a lot shorter now, though. Her face was more angular and androgynous. She still had green eyes, although one of them was now blue for some reason. She sighed and picked herself up. She had to figure out what had just happened. She had a strange urge for fish-fingers and custard for some reason. She shrugged and headed off into the ruins of Beacon Academy. There was someone she needed to find. A blond-haired bastard, she recalled being named Jack. Jack Handsome? Or something like that...

**End. Doctor Pyrrha alt-universe. Next!**

XXXXX

The Grimmer

XXXXX

Pyrrha Nikos walked the lands. It had been centuries since she'd been taken from her home in Argus. She was young once, a bright lass with a future of untold greatness. But when her father had been saved by a strange man one day, he'd requested their firstborn as payment. Thus she found herself in a whole new world of greatness. She didn't want to be held upon a pedestal, what she did was purely business. The next bag of lien and then on to the next task at hand. She was a professional, a hunter, a killer, a mercenary. It was only by _fate_ perhaps, that she found herself walking through the ruins of Kuroyuri.

She'd taken a contract as usual. A terrible beast stalked the wreckage of humanity. She had heard some reports that a brave bunch of teenagers also took the same contract. A poor choice; they were probably dead already. Their leader's father had told her of their struggles, they had been of Beacon Academy's finest, having lost their friend Penny in the attack on Beacon Tower. Two teams of Hunters, RWBY and JNPR, now made up of their only living members. Sir Taiyang was somber, having lost his eldest daughter to the monsters of the world. Pyrrha vowed to find his lost daughter and kill the Grimm, thus was the way of the Grimmer. It was also a fair amount of Lien, she'd haggled the price with him until he finally broke.

Pyrrha thought of the other lost team members. An heiress? What was she supposed to do in this world? Pay the monsters away? A hybrid cat-girl? An android? She sighed and continued walking. She drank a potion of Thunderbolt and applied Grimm oil to her weapons. Sword, Spear, rifle and shield. A Mithril spear for Grimm that could transform into a sword, and a heavy shield. Her rifle fired hollowpoint .950 caliber bullets for maximum penetration against any _human_ targets she encountered; more than enough to down even the strongest Aura in one shot.

Pyrrha flipped through her monster manual. From everything she could piece together, she was facing a Nuckalavee, a dangerous Grimm and a very rare one. It wasn't the first one she'd encountered and probably wouldn't be the last either.

The sounds of gunfire and screams drew her attention. A fight in the ruined town square. Pyrrha ran towards the sounds and beheld the evil Grimm itself. A team of four tried to hold it off. They stood no chance against it. She let off a warning shot. The group of teens immediately looked towards her.

The Grimm took the advantage of distraction and threw one of the teens to the ground, an orange-haired girl. Pyrrha threw out her spear in retaliation, drawing it back with the Semblance.

"Get back!", Pyrrha yelled as she threw a bomb of Samum at the Grimm, the blast stunning the Grimm and causing it to reel back.

Pyrrha grabbed her transformed sword and drove it into the heart of the creature as it lay stunned. She pulled back and transformed her sword into a rifle and loaded Mithril cartridges and began to unload into the creature. The Grimm was stunned and collapsed for a moment, taking the iniative, Pyrrha downed a Decoction of the Vampire, her face turning white and black veins spreading across her face.

Pyrrha continued to pepper the beast. The Nuckalavee hissed and roared as it took on the fire. Pyrrha circled it and drew its attention. The beast lunged at her as she dodged and brought her sword down upon its neck. The Grimm spasmed for a few seconds before it dispersed, like all other Grimm, into dense smoke. She sheathed her weapons before turning to the kids.

"That wasn't smart. You should leave the monster-hunting to the professionals.", Pyrrha noted.

"Wha... How? What the fuuu...", the one boy stammered. He had dark hair with a pink stripe in it.

"Who are you!?", a smaller girl asked, she was dressed like a perky goth.

"I'm a Grimmer. A professional.", Pyrrha noted.

"A professional what!? What do you do!?", a blond-haired boy asked, out of breath.

"I kill monsters...", Pyrrha said.

"What? You're a Grimmer? I thought they were all dead... What's your name?", the orange-haired girl stuttered.

"I'm Pyrrha of Argus. School of the Werehound. A Grimmer. A professional.", Pyrrha stated.

"Oh wow. Really?", the raven-haired boy said.

"Yes. Now you should all go home. The danger is gone.", Pyrrha noted.

"Maybe you should come with us! We have a mission! The whole world might be in danger!", the perky goth cheered.

Pyrrha stopped for a moment. This was another one of those situations, one contract leads to another and then... Then there's a greater prize at the end. Maybe better armor? Maybe more loot she could sell? Taiyang had promised a paltry sum. Even if the kids died, she'd still get paid. She had been hired to _find_ the missing teenagers and kill a Grimm. They didn't need to be alive and the Grimm was now dead... So... Double payment and possibly more.

"What's this mission?", Pyrrha asked.

"We need to find something. It's important. It might mean the end of the world if we don't!", the perky goth exclaimed.

"I need more information. Who are you?", Pyrrha asked.

"I'm Ruby Rose. A huntress in training...", the perky goth said.

"I'm Lie Ren, son of Li Ren.", the raven-haired boy said.

"I'm Noraaaa!", the orange-haired girl noted.

"And I'm Jaune Arc, perhaps you've heard of me?", the blond-haired boy noted.

"No. I don't know any of you except Arc. You're the boy who forged his transcripts. A farce.", Pyrrha concluded. Jaune sulked.

"You'll help us right? You can't just leave us to die!", Ruby noted.

"I can't. This contract has turned into so much more...", Pyrrha mused.

It had. The contract was more than she'd agreed to. But in the end, it was probably worth it. She'd promised to defend the world from Grimm. She knew in the end, she would prevail. It was only from her own master's defiance that there were any Grimm to begin with. The first of their kind, the Grimmers. Salem herself, an ancient Grimmer and her own mentor vowed to prevent another conjunction of the spheres and the destruction of all of the monsters she inadvertently let into the world. Salem had wanted her beloved back, but made a mistake. Ozma was beyond reach, the world of the dead was untouchable. And in his stead, monsters invaded. Pyrrha had promised Salem to right what was wrong and bring the world back to what it once was. A mission and this little group could possibly be her means to achieve that. She sighed and followed the group out of Kuroyuri.

**End. Possibly more to come.**


	34. Atlas Bugged

XXXXX

Chapter 32: Atlas Bugged

XXXXX

Jaune and Pyrrha waited patiently for their friends and teammates to finish packing. Today was the big day! They were finally going to Atlas! They still didn't know exactly why they were going to Atlas, but McDiarmid and Tonar had mentioned something about being needed there. Jaune distrusted Ozpin, but he still had faith in his uncle. Atlas presumably, also had a Vault within it as well, yet another Relic to be secured and kept away from both the Ozluminati and Salem. He pulled Pyrrha out the front door.

"Hey, so this is going to kick off. I have a sneaking suspicion...", Jaune said.

"What makes you think that?", Pyrrha asked.

"I just do. There's something in the air, I can feel it.", Jaune noted.

As Jaune said that, a huge purple beam of pure energy shot across the skies. It missed the city and the mountains as it arced over the land. He jumped back for a moment as the sky turned purple.

"What in the hell is that!?"

XXX

Ilia and Sienna began to walk towards their airship. They were flying together out of Mistral City and back to Menagerie. Ghira Belladonna had sounded excited for a meeting between the Fang and the Knights. It would be a new future. Ilia and Sienna recoiled in horror for a moment as the sky turned purple and a beam of pure focused hatred shot across it. The beam missed Haven Academy by a few meters and continued across the sky.

"Oh good gods! What is going on here!?", the two Faunus exclaimed.

XXX

In Patch, Taiyang could hear Zwei barking at something. He didn't really care. It was probably nothing. His entire house shook violently as the skies suddenly turned purple. His hair stood on end and he quickly ran outside just in time to see a huge purple beam of energy streak through the trees. He grabbed Zwei and fell to his knees.

"Oh god!", Taiyang exclaimed as he watched the beginning of the end.

XXX

Peter Port stood outside of Beacon Academy. The school had been mostly rebuilt. There was just one little problem. The huge Grimm that was still frozen at the top of the tower. The campus had been cleaned up and new students were to arrive soon, but until the Tower was repaired and the Grimm was dislodged, nobody wanted to even come near the place. Hundreds of Huntsmen were on guard to defend the school from the still incoming Grimm that were drawn by the massive dragoon.

Port sighed and just stared upwards. He hoped that something would happen. Anything. His eyes shot wide open as the sky suddenly turned a horrific purple shade. Clouds were blasted away as a beam of pure focused energy slammed into the Grimm at the top of the tower. An aether greased fist of fury pounded into the massive Grimm and exploded it. A thousand fragments of stone quickly turned to ash as the monster turned to smoke, just like all the other Grimm.

Peter Port blinked a few times. He made sure he wasn't dreaming. Several of the hired Huntsmen looked up at the Beacon Tower. The Grimm was gone. Repairs could be started. Port walked towards the Tower. It was time to clear out any remaining Grimm! He gripped his axe-gun and walked towards the front doors. An elevator crashed down in front of him, the doors opening and spilling a very confused and disheveled professor down into the dust alongside several hundred cans of beans.

"Glynda!?", Port exclaimed.

"Elevator... Stuck... Trapped...", Professor Goodwitch groaned.

The blond-haired custodian of Beacon Academy had been declared dead after the Fall of Beacon. Judging by her current appearance, it appeared that she had actually been stuck inside the tower for the better half of almost two years. She had survived on rainwater and cans of beans. Port was actually glad that Old Ozpin had bought those nearly six thousand cans of beans, otherwise Glynda Goodwitch would've been gone forever.

"It's alright, Glynda. You're going to be fine...", Port said as he ran over to her aid.

Glynda Goodwitch just stared at Peter Port in confusion. What exactly had happened since the attack on Beacon? She had no idea at all.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in Atlas...

XXXXX

"Boo yeah! Three points, ya dirty whore!", Tassiter Arc shouted. Merlot was less than pleased.

"Do you have any idea where that went!?", the Doctor exclaimed.

"Probably just into the atmosphere... I can guarantee you, it didn't hit anything important.", Tassiter Arc noted.

Tassiter Arc jumped back into his chair. His new 'Eye of Helios' had worked flawlessly and it didn't blow up and kill them all, not that it would've happened. He was about to pop the champagne bottles when the door of his office flew open and a red-haired and rather irate young woman burst in.

"Arc! Ironwood wants you. Immediately!", the woman exclaimed.

Tassiter Arc glanced at the woman. She was tall and slender with red hair held up in a long ponytail. She had vibrant green eyes that seemed to pierce him with a steely gaze. She wore Atlas military-grade armor in a garish teal color. He casually rolled his eyes at her.

"Ah, and if my eyes are deceiving me, you're not really here right now. You're actually that Pumpkin Pete's mascot and not who I think you are...", Tassiter Arc mused.

"Unfortunately, it's me. Come on, Arc...", the woman said.

"Just let me finish my champagne...", Tassiter Arc complained.

"No. Now!", the woman exclaimed as she walked across the room and grabbed the CEO of Hyperion.

"Alright, fine! Why do you have to be such a bitch, Carolina?", Tassiter Arc noted.

"When, I deal with asshats like you, I have to be. Now move it, Arc!", Carolina goaded.

Atlesian Special Agent Carolina escorted Tassiter Arc out of his own corporation. Today was going to be a fun day. Doctor Merlot simply sat down on Tassiter Arc's couch and helped himself to the champagne. Today was going to be a very fun day!

X

"Here he is, General.", Carolina stated as she shoved Tassiter Arc though the doors. General Ironwood just stared out of his office window.

"Good. You are dismissed, Agent.", Ironwood noted stoicly. Carolina turned on her heel and left the room.

"Hey, I can explai-"

"Arc! What the hell was that!? I explicitly told you there weren't to be any more testing unless you had properly sent notice! We never recovered Adel's pod after your last 'test' went awry.", Ironwood shouted.

"Nobody died! This time... It was just a simple little test firing of our new long-range plasma cannon! I calibrated the aim myself and it certainly didn't hit anything important!", Tassiter Arc reassured.

"For your sake, I hope it didn't. If there are any casualties from this 'test', I'm holding you accountable for every single one of them!", Ironwood declared.

"Can I go now?", Arc asked.

"I don't know Arc, can you?", Ironwood glared.

"Okay... May I declare departure from Atlas and the continent of Mantle starting immediately?", Arc asked.

"You may. And I approve of your departure.", Ironwood stated.

Tassiter Arc left Ironwood's office and went back to his HQ. He quietly kicked Dr. Merlot out and began to prepare to leave Atlas itself. He was leaving. Officially and most-likely permanently. Ironwood had been too angry and had ignored the fact that Tassiter Arc's corporate HQ was currently flying adjacent to Atlas' upper city. He also didn't notice as the docking cables of the massive H-shaped structure were released. He did notice the giant H slowly floating away from the continent and across the ocean.

"Arc! What are you doing!?", Ironwood screamed into his Scroll.

"Leaving. Just like I asked.", Tassiter Arc responded.

There was a cry of frustration and the sound of breaking glass as Ironwood's Scroll cut out. With _Helios_ now moving across the ocean towards Anima, Atlas would be without their strongest and most popular weapons manufacturer.

James Ironwood cursed loudly in his office. He knew Tassiter Arc was a trickster. He shouldn't have even bothered with having him brought in. He probably should've approved his request for independence from Atlas. He probably should've done a lot of things differently. He could rally the air force and forcibly bring _Helios_ back to Atlas. Then he remembered the ridiculous weapon that he had just witnessed and sighed. Nothing would bring Arc and his company back except for a very specific thing he vehemently did not want to do under any circumstances. He sighed even harder and thought about that very specific thing for a moment. Dignity... How much did he have left? Not enough. He slammed the intercom button.

"Bring in Doctor Polendina. We have lost Tassiter Arc and Hyperion.", he said stoicly.

XXXXX

Back in Argus, Team JNPR and RWBY began to make their way towards the military base. Cordovin was expecting them. Adam, Sun, Qrow and Ozcar followed behind. Rhames had left earlier and noted that he would meet up with them. There were things he needed to take care of. The air was abuzz with some kind of chatter. Something felt off for some reason. As they approached the base, they could see tiny old Cordovin pacing around. The sound of their arrival perked her ears and the older woman turned to face them.

"Haha! Well, now! That's a rowdy bunch you've got there! Jaune wasn't kidding when he said he'd bring a lot of people! Now... who do we have here?", Cordovin rambled. "A bunch of fun Faunus, Mr. Arc and friends, Qrow Branwen and his hanse, and... wait. Wasn't there another one with you? A big scary guy?"

"You mean Rhames? He's supposed to meet us here in a bit. Prepare the airship while we wait for him.", Jaune noted.

"Oh alright! Geez. I baked you all some nice tasty cashew cookies, too. A friendly gesture to my most favorite person in the whole world, Maria.", Cordovin said somewhat sarcastically, before she held out a metal tin of cookies. Obeying Jaune's every word was very difficult as it seemed.

Alarm bells suddenly began to blare all over the base. A nubuck guard ran up to them, he was out of breath and panicked.

"M'lady! The radar! It's picked up hundreds... Perhaps thousands of entities incoming! We need to defend the city!", he cried.

Cordovin visibly jumped. She ran towards the base, seemingly in fear. 

"Where are you going!?", Jaune exclaimed.

"I have a failsafe! All you need to do is cover me!", Cordovin yelled as she ran towards the bunker.

Both teams followed the tiny commander towards the bunker. Alarm klaxons continued to sound all around. It was absolute chaos. Pyrrha just sighed and followed everyone else. So much for an easy trip out of the city. Still, it beat trying to fight the guards.

Once inside the base itself, Cordovin ran down another hallway and disappeared into a smaller thigh-high door specifically meant for someone of her stature. Jaune just looked in her direction in disbelief.

"Okay, tiny door…", he sighed. "Anyone care to crawl into that?". Nobody moved. Nobody really wanted to see how far down Cordovin's rabbit hole went.

Team RWBY took to taking a peek at the radar systems, the nubuck guards ran around arms flailing whilst chanting 'Atlas'. It appeared that several large squadrons of Grimm were approaching from the mountains.

"Command, this is Alpha 33, come in! There… Appears to be some sort of new Grimm leading the assault. It's… human…", the radio crackled as another of the Atlesian guards called.

"Keep a line of sight on it and report back to us. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary!", another nubuck guard called back.

"They're swarming the city! We have to go and defend it!", Ruby called out. She pulled out _Crescent Rose_ and made haste for the door. The rest of team RWBY followed behind her leaving Jaune, Pyrrha, and the rest of the mixmatched bunch standing alone.

The base suddenly began to shake, as if it was a small snowglobe in the hands of an unruly child. Jaune just stared up at the CCTV feed. It would seem that tiny old Cordie had a trick up her sleeve after all. A large door had opened on the seaside facing edge of the base and a large Mantle-era robot began to emerge from it. It had a large 'head' somewhat cylindrical with a tiny control pod in its 'chest'. Two large hydraulic arms and a pair of somewhat stubby legs. The whole machine was wearing Atlas-colored livery.

"Cordovin to base. Cherno-Beta is active. Preparing for defense protocols.", Cordovin called from inside the mech.

"What in all that is holy, is that thing?", Jaune asked to nobody in particular.

"That's Cherno-Beta, an old _nuclear_ powered Mantle-era mech. It's a relic from another age. Unfortunately, it also irradiates whoever is driving it…", one of the guards commented back.

"Maybe that's why she's such a tiny little-", Maria began to say before she drifted off.

"She said defensive positions! Deploy the wall!", another of the nubuck guards called.

Despite the waves of Grimm approaching from the mountains, the guards deployed the 'wall', which activated a force-field out in the middle of the bay. Which was probably going to do absolutely nothing to help the defenseless city of Argus. It was a nice gesture though.

Jaune just looked around for a moment before grabbing his own weapons and heading for the door. Adam had left with Team RWBY, Rhames still wasn't back yet, and Ozcar an Drunkle Qrow weren't about to be of much use. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora quickly followed him out of the base as well.

Outside, on the bridge all hell was breaking loose. Grimm were attacking pedestrians left and right, more of the sensible folks had grabbed tools and pickaxes to try to defend themselves. Cordovin's robot was slowly making its was inland from the base. It was pathetically slow.

"Jaune! We have to find my mother! We have to make sure everyone is safe!", Pyrrha called. Jaune followed. They began to run back towards the park and the memorial. Ren and Nora split off to try to find Rhames, wherever he'd run off to.

"My, my. Some old friends! How are you do-", Jaune shot before he had a chance to finish. Roman Torchwick and his best friend stood stoicly in front of him.

"Did you do this, Torchdick?", Jaune asked menacingly.

"Nope! Not me this time. I'm afraid our old mutual acquaintance _Cinder_ is behind this one. It was only a matter of time, you see…", Torchwick noted.

"Really? And you know this how? Cinder Fall is dead.", Pyrrha added, her eyes beginning to glow with Maiden energy.

"On the contrary, she _survived_. Somehow. It would seem that whatever kind of Grimm pact she made has taken over her mind and body. But I suppose _survived_ is a somewhat loose term. She's not quite right anymore…", Torchwick rambled.

"Why…. Why are you telling us this now!? You've obviously been in town for a while, why tell us right now, instead of uhh… maybe… Finding us sooner!?", Pyrrha raged.

"And if I had, would you have listened to me? Knowing who I am and what I've got against the others in your little group? Or would you have just shot me dead on sight like your boyfriend?", Torchwick argued.

"I… err… Graaagh!", Pyrrha turned around for a moment hoping that Torchwick would take the hint and go away.

"Exactly. Now, if you don't mind me, I've got some drycleaning to pick up.", Torchwick concluded. Neo waved at the duo as they left.

"Great. Torchdick is alive and well too. What's next?", Jaune asked to nobody in particular again.

"Well, here we are, Jaune. Friends and enemies, Grimm… It's time to end this.", Pyrrha noted as she took to the air a few feet from the ground and began to hover off. Jaune followed shortly behind.

X

Across the city, Beowolves swarmed the docks. Rhames had his hands full as he conjured his Semblance and his wardrobe of weapons appeared. Without the rest of his own Team, he beat back several of the dark hounds alone. Local business owner and underworld boss, Junior Xiong stood nearby launching volleys of rockets, his own henchmen now trying to protect both the business and his clientele.

"Get to safety! You're not Hunters! I can handle this!", Rhames called to Junior. Junior and his lackeys began to step backwards. They slowly backed away and left Rhames alone with the horde of Grimm descending on him.

Rhames conjured a diamond bastard sword and swung, bisecting several Beowolves in the process. He eyed the skyline and looked for a way to get to his comrades. He suspected the park and its rather sad memorial would be a good holding ground for everyone. It was enclosed and large enough for them to make a final stand. He shuddered for a moment, perhaps not a _final_ stand. He glanced down at the strange lamp from earlier and began to make his way towards the memorial gardens.

X

In the opposite direction of Rhames, Team RWBY and Adam waged war against the encroaching Grimm. Ruby with her own natural powers unleashed a blast of light that froze several of the Grimm in place. Her training was paying off, as it seemed, although she could only let off a few quick blasts before needing to recover. Blake's shadow clones distracted several Nevermore chicks as she and Yang tag-teamed the evil birds.

Adam just stood by, staring at the beasts of darkness as they descended on him. He stared at them, the mindless beasts of destruction and saw something. He stared at them and saw a rage, a black oily hatred. An animal, wild and unruly as it bared down on him. He saw a little bit of what he used to be in them; a hateful creature out for death. He raged. He partially unsheathed _Exagora_ and absorbed the dozen or so blows from the descending Grimm.

"_I'm not like you! I'm not an animal anymore! I'm free!"_, Adam thought. "_I have a family now… I love them. I have to protect them…_"

"Blake! Get the others to safety, I'll meet up with you, I promise!", Adam called.

"There are too many of them, Adam! You'll die!", Blake called back.

"I know. Please, Blake. Don't fight me on this… Take Yang and your friends and go.", Adam said softly.

Blake gave him a glance and grabbed her friends and left. Jaune had a plan before, to meet up at the memorial gardens. Everyone could meet up there and stand a final defense. It was ideal.

"I won't let you take them from me! All I wanted… All my life…", Adam swore as the Grimm descended upon him. There were dozens if not hundreds. He took the blows of many all at once. His aura began to wane under the sustained attacks. "_Redemption_…"

Blake glanced back towards where Adam stood as she left. A sudden blast of red energy nearly knocked her to her feet as she knew what Adam had done. He had saved them, but at what cost. She dearly hoped that the ragged Faunus would rejoin their group in the gardens.

X

Pyrrha and Jaune were the first to enter the Memorial Gardens. The whole place was strangely quiet. No Grimm were in sight. Pyrrha glanced around for a second before realizing that the huge bronze Pyrrha Statue was missing from its pedestal.

"Pyrrha!", Pandora called.

Pyrrha's mother, also gifted with the Semblance of Polarity, had animated the statue. It stood in defense near the far wall.

"Mom? What are you doing?", Pyrrha asked incredulously.

"I'm not dreaming. This is real. This is a nightmare. Grimm attacking Argus? I knew I had to do something. Even if seeing you alive was just a dream, I knew you'd be able to protect us. I did what I thought was right.", Pandora stated.

The statue of Pyrrha, eyes still closed, held out its huge bronze shield and a lamppost as a weapon. Large trenches of earth were shorn up marking areas where Grimm had once stood. Even in supposed death, Pyrrha was still protecting Argus.

Rhames and a battered and beaten Sun Wukong entered next. Sun had several large cuts and multiple bruises beginning to form. Rhames looked about the same condition.

"Where are the others? I found Sun in the middle of the street, he was beaten up.", RHames said as he laid Sun on the ground.

"Grimm?", Jaune asked as he looked at Sun's injuries.

"Not for him. He cheated at cards and got beaten up at Junior's club. Then the Grimm attacked.", Rhames noted.

"Huh…", Jaune sighed.

Team RWBY was next to arrive after Rhames. They all piled into the memorial gardens and took defensive stances. Yang glanced at the animated bronze statue and shook her head. Things had gotten a lot weirded lately. Now there were two Pyrrhas. Almost on cue, Nora came thundering into the gardens on top of an Ursa Major, the Grimm collapsing into smoke on arrival.

"Yaaay! Let's do it again!", Nora cheered.

"No… Way… You did it twice already, Nora…", Ren sighed as he sat down next to Jaune's feet.

Jaune surveyed the scene. Grimm were still enclosing on them. There were less now, but it was still going to be a fight. And if Mr. Torchdick was right, then Cinder Fall, now Cinder SomethingHorrible was coming for them as well. Wasn't payback a bitch?

"Well, we're beaten, bloody, and bruised. We're all here together, we've got the relic and this is going to be our final stand. Well, hopefully not _final_ stand… But…. You know what I mean. We're all heroes here, let's not forget that. And they are the goddamn monsters! Let's kill these savages!", Jaune stated.

As Jaune was finishing his rally, Adam crept into the gardens. He slumped down next to Blake and Yang.

"I've seen her. It. She's not human anymore. More Grimm than human…", Adam wheezed.

"You what? So Torchdick wasn't making it up?", Jaune asked.

"Yeah. It was Cinder. But now, I don't know anymore. I tried to block her attacks, but… She has help. My brother…", Adam gasped before passing out.

"Oh great! Another Taurus! What's his problem? What's his name? _Mustang_ Taurus? _Escort_ Taurus? _Fairlane_ Taurus!? What!", Jaune yelled at the unconscious Faunus. Adam didn't respond, since he was now unconscious.

"His name is Fjord Taurus. We should be wary. His Semblance allows him to run through walls.", Blake noted quietly.

It was at that moment, that the nearest wall suddenly exploded and the now raging bull Faunus revealed himself. Fjord Taurus himself dusted his clothing off and looked directly at them. His eyes were burning red in rage. He grunted a few times before he began to charge. Team RWBYJNPRR readied their weapons. If Fjord was here, then Cinder Grimm wasn't too far behind and the end was upon them.

**Chapter End. Long Hiatus, but RWBY fans know of long Hiatuses. More weirdness to come. I promise you that.**


	35. Out of Time

Chapter 33: Out of Time

XXXXX

The sound of the farthest wall erupting into a thousand fragments of rubble woke the unconscious Adam Branwen from his not-exactly peaceful rest. The dazed Faunus stood up and began to gather his bearings. Upon seeing his now enraged brother, he attempted to parley.

"Fjord! Stop! It's me, Adam! This is all a big misunderstanding… I can explai-", Adam cried out and was instantly silenced as Fjord Taurus charged at him.

"You're not Adam. Adam is dead! You wear his clothes and speak with his voice, but he's dead. You're not my brother. Not anymore. You betayed us…", Fjord growled.

The larger Faunus began to charge again, this time Rhames shoving Adam out of the way and deflecting the blow.

"Stop! We need to get out of the city before more Grimm come. This nice little garden was a good place to regroup, but there are innocents in danger here!", Pyrrha cried out as Fjord crashed into the far wall.

"Good plan. Where?", Rhames asked as he dusted himself off again.

"Cliff sides! Yang and I were up there earlier, there's an old tower up there for communications!", Blake shouted.

"Follow the road out towards the harbor and then up the coastlines!", Yang added.

"Good great. Pandora, I guess stay here and try to protect the locals? You've got that big statue to use. Uhh, Ren and Nora cover us as we leave and then join up in the rear. Team RWBY, take point and we'll take the middle ground.", Jaune proposed. It was a good plan.

Fjord Taurus climbed out of the rubble of the far wall and stood up again. He growled and began to ready for another charge. Ren and Nora added suppressing fire to distract the Bull Faunus as Pandora swung the lamppost around and hammered the Bull into low-earth orbit. Fjord flew out of the park and into the distance.

Pandora simply gave a nod to Pyrrha and climbed onto the shoulders of the giant statue. Jaune chuckled silently to himself. Now there were two giant 'robots'. If he survived long enough, he was going to make a movie about this battle. Perhaps 'Pacific Grimm' as a title. The group began to head towards the cliffs. It would be a long and hard road out of Argus.

XXXXX

Far outside of the city, Cinder Grimm had to step aside as a screaming ball of rage impacted the ground next to her. She just turned around to stare at the bewildered Faunus.

"Who… How?", she growled.

"The little red bitch. Thought you were supposed to be dead; guess not. I'm Fjord Taurus…", Fjord announced.

Cinder Grimm just stared at him for a moment before deciding not to question it. She did have something slightly more important to worry about, like finding and eating some humanoid icecream, stealing a bowler hat from a freshly severed head, and the imminent destruction of rose gardens, ice flowers and bumblebees. There was also something else, a usurper and a man with no name.

"Stay out of my way…", Cinder growled before turning back to the city.

Despite her apparent control over the local Grimm, Cinder's forces were falling to the little group that's always been and always will continue to thwart her plans until the end. No longer a Maiden or even entirely human for that matter, she could now sense strong Auras. She pinpointed a specific one, a large one, possibly belonging to a god and began to track it. It was heading towards the cliffs. A perfect place for an ambush. She jumped down from her perch and began to head into the forests. A loud crash and the sounds of falling trees behind her signaled that Fjord Taurus was also hot on her heels.

Cinder Grimm ran through the forests outside of Argus. With her new form, she was graceful as she leapt around trees and rocks. Fjord Taurus behind her wasn't. He ran full-tilt into trees, rocks and everything else. He cut a trench through the countryside like a runaway steam train. If their opposition didn't know where they were, they certainly did now. They'd just have to follow the trail of broken ground and snapped trees.

Cinder Grimm just sighed and continued onwards. She'd have to deal with this imbecile in due time.

XXXXX

Farther outside of the city itself, Team RWBYJNPRR with Sun Wukong and Adam Branwen ran along the cliffsides. They could all see Cordovin and Cherno-Beta back towards the city, the huge battle machine still slowly lumbering towards the Grimm infested shoreline. The Grimm for the most part had decided to follow them instead of concentrating on the city itself. The were currently being chased by a pack of Beowolves.

Ren and Nora both aimed shots backwards into their pursuers. Sun Wukong and his Faunus Friends picked off any stragglers and those that tried to intercept them. Blake and Sun pirouetted in the air and shot off any Grimm that dared to oppose them.

The group was approaching the end of the cliffs outside of Argus. A large group of trees exploded outwards, and a very angry Bull Faunus stood in front of them.

"Miss me?", Fjord raged.

"Aww crap.", Jaune sighed as he laid eyes upon his new adversary.

An inhuman roar suddenly filled the groups ears as a horrible creature emerged just behind Fjord. It was half-human and half-Grimm. Deep black cracks in ivory white skin. Double jointed knees that bent backwards like a satyr ending in huge pointed claws. It had a familiar face that now had a split jaw revealing hundreds of pointed sharp teeth.

"Did… You… Miss… Me… Too?", the monstrosity snarled.

"Cinder…", Ruby whimpered.

"Little… Red…", Cinder Grimm growled, bearing her new teeth; her orange eyes scanning her prey.

"You're outnumbered, Cinder. You can take us all!", Jaune shouted.

"You… Who… are you?", Cinder asked.

"Oh for fuu…. I'm Jaune! Jaune Arc, your worst nightmare for forgetting my name again!", Jaune raged. He drew _Unforgiven_ and fired a shot. Cinder caught the bullet in mid-air and just gave the blond haired boy a loathsome look.

Cinder let loose another inhuman roar, halfway between a woman's wail and primal growl. The Huntsmen collection suddenly became aware of several dozen Ursa Majors, Beringel and other truly massive Grimm surrounding them. Maybe she could take them after all…

"Jaune… This looks bad.", Pyrrha noted as several dozen Grimm began to surround them. The little group that's always been and always will be until the end was now pressed against a sheer drop into some very painful looking rocks and a hoard of Grimm.

"I know… Hold on. I've got this.", Jaune said as he held out his hand. He was going to jump them back again. The longest jump he'd ever tried.

Pyrrha took his hand and waited. Time began to slow for a moment. A massive Beringel lunged at her, its huge fists coming ever closer to her skull in a crushing blow. She turned for a moment, hand still clenched and attempted to shield herself from the incoming blow as time ground to a halt.

"Just hold on… Just hold on a little longer…", Jaune strained.

Pyrrha just nodded and gave Jaune a little nudge of Maiden power. Perhaps that was a bad idea, as the little bump turned into a full on 100 shot of nitrous to Jaune's Semblance. She felt a sudden and abrupt shudder as time broke. Her vision blurred and shattered into fragments. After images of possible events crashed through her mind like waves against the shore. A vision of another world just for a moment. And she let go of Jaune's hand for just a second before grabbing it again.

X

"Look out!", a voice shouted.

Pyrrha had been dropped somewhere else and barely had enough time to react as a huge metal wall crashed into her. She stood her ground and caught the wall, sliding a few feet backwards before giving the metal wall a huge push with her Semblance, now fully amplified by her Maiden powers. The wall was actually a large metal hand and that hand belonged to a similar but not quite the same robot that Cordovin had piloted. The hand and arm spun backwards tossing the large robot off balance and into the waters below.

"P-Pyrrha?", a voice stammered.

Pyrrha turned around and saw a blond haired boy. Jaune. But not her Jaune, a different one. He was softer and seemed a bit more innocent. He seemed sad for some reason. And surprised. She recognized his voice.

"Hello again, Jaune.", Pyrrha said.

Jaune couldn't believe his eyes. Pyrrha was alive. She was okay. She wore different armor, but still had her circlet. He noticed that her new armor was made from parts of her old weapons and slowly drew his own conclusions. This wasn't his Pyrrha. He took notice of the glow around her eyes and made his own realizations.

"Pyrrha… You… I missed you so much. I…", Jaune stuttered.

"I know. But it wasn't your fault. I did what had to be done. Nobody else could. Don't blame yourself for what happened to me. You have to let me go.", Pyrrha said. She hoped she wasn't breaking Jaune's heart. She knew her time in this world might be brief; reality was beginning to fracture.

The sounds of footsteps and people landing nearby announced the arrival of Pyrrha's alternate teammates. This was the world Jaune had briefly encountered. His Semblance was breaking the laws of time and space.

"Pyrrrrhaaa! You're okay! I thought I saw you di-", Ruby rose was cut off.

"Nope, she's alive! Nothing bad ever happened!", Nora cut in.

"No… That's not… I'm not…", Pyrrha stuttered. It was strange seeing alternate versions of your own teammates in a world where you were dead.

A muffled cry from the incapacitated robot drew their attention for a moment. It was recovering. Whatever her teammates had done to piss off Cordovin was incomprehensible. Pyrrha just turned and looked at the robot for a moment before using her Semblance and Maiden powers to sever one of its arms, particularly the one with the cannon on it, and toss it farther back into the waters.

"Geez, kid. How the hell did you do that!?", a gruff voice asked. It was Qrow.

Pyrrha just turned and nodded to him. He stepped back in shock as he noticed the flames emanating off her brow.

"I… I'm a Maiden now… I don't know how long I'm going to be able to help you. It's so hard to keep this form. I'm made of pure energy. Please, remember me for who I was. And who I will always be.", Pyrrha lied. She knew that coming back to this one specific reality was an impossibility. But maybe…

"Pyrrha… I love you.", Jaune said quietly.

"I know…", Pyrrha added. Her vision was beginning to blur again. Time seemed to slow down.

"Don't forget me…", She added as her vision shattered into fragments. She was back in her own time now. Hand in hand with her Jaune, time still flowing backwards.

X

Jaune Arc and his team stood on the cliffside. Cordovin and her mech had been downed, one arm missing. A huge battle against Atlas' military avoided. Jaune just watched sadly as Pyrrha seemed to flicker and fade before her image disintegrated into fragments of dust in the wind again. His team would never forget their lost friend.

X

"Pyrrha? You still there? I thought I lost you for a second.", Jaune noted.

"Nope… Just… just saw something for a moment. I panicked. I'm here now.", Pyrrha added.

The two of them were still flying backwards in time. The after-images of themselves and teammates blurred before time began to slow again. Their vision shattered again and they were back a few minutes. Sun Wukong and Blake pirouetted over their heads, shooting down Grimm left and right.

"What happened? You let go for a second. I didn't think you'd be able to come back with me…", Jaune said.

"I… Maybe there's something to your Semblance after all… I went to an alternate world, one where I died… It was strange… and sad.", Pyrrha murmured. "I hope they're okay."

"Oh. Yeah… That place… I'm sure they're fine.", Jaune mused.

A grouping to trees exploded outwards. Fjord Taurus in all of his enraged glory was beheld to the group of friends.

"Miss me?", Fjord growled.

"Yep! But I didn't miss your friend!", Jaune noted as he fired _Unforgiven_ into the nearby trees.

He picked the third chamber of his weapon and fired a round directly into Cinder Grimm's throat, halting her inhuman growl and turning it into a choking gasp. Cinder Grimm stumbled into the clearing clutching her throat. Not even a bullet to the neck could kill her, but it had interrupted her call to arms.

"Kkhh… You…", Cinder gasped.

"Yes, me! I'm Jaune! If you've forgotten!", Jaune said gleefully. Pyrrha glared at him.

Jaune fired again, this time striking Cinder Grimm in her chest, the blow knocking her back. He spun the chamber again, this time the gun clicked and cocked into a new chamber that had rather suddenly materialized in the weapon, a 7th chamber. He fired again and hit the Cinder Grimm in the leg and knocked her to the ground.

"Graauughggg…", Cinder growled. She couldn't call her army of Grimm. It was just her and her stupid Faunus.

"Okay team! Grimm might be coming from the woods. Keep an eye on them. Probably Ursas. Take them down first. Concentrate fire on the Cinder-thingy. Fjord is an afterthought.", Jaune commanded.

Ren scanned the treeline. Nora brandished her hammer in expectance. Ruby Rose and her teammates formed a circle and stood at the ready. Fjord Taurus just began to charge himself up. He wasn't going to fail. Rhames and Adam stood opposed to him.

"I am a Branwen. An heir to bastards and thieves.", Rhames noted.

"And you are not my brother, Fjord. You're a farce.", Adam noted, as he drew _Exagora_.

Rhames clenched his fist and conjured the powers of the Ring. Adam stood ready, sword half sheathed.

Fjord charged, this momentum amplified by his own Semblance. Adam blocked and abosrbed the staggering blow. Rhames turned and conjured a morningstar, swinging and hitting the enraged Bull Faunus and knocking him backwards.

"It's me. Really. Fjord, please stop this!", Adam asked.

"You're not him! You're everything he swore not to be! You're a shadow!", Fjord yelled.

"I'm not. You're right. I'm Adam Branwen. Our father is a corrupt tyrant. I saw what he's been doing to us and I had to do something! He's wrong. Only we are truly in control!", Adam pleaded.

"You're a fool. Adam Taurus is dead. And you… I don't know what you are!", Fjord raged as he ran towards them. A blink and a fade. Blake swept in and grabbed Adam, tossing him clear before leaving a shadow-clone. Fjord hit the clone head on and stumbled. He'd stupidly been led to the cliff side.

Yang nodded to Blake as they pulled _Gambol_ _Shroud's_ Ribbon taut, tripping the Bull Faunus. Fjord Taurus tumbled off the cliff side into the rocks below. A cry of agony announced his impact with the rocks below. Adam looked over the edge and turned back.

"He'll be back. Eventually….", he sighed. Blake came to his side and helped him up.

"Hey kiddos! Jaune here! Just wanted to remind you that there's an angry Cinder-shaped Grimm trying to _kill_ us!", Jaune shouted.

Cinder Grimm, now as voiceless as Neo chomped at the flying rose petals as Ruby seemingly teleported around the battlefield. Nora fired off shots that did nothing and Ren peppered her with fire. Pyrrha blasted Cinder with a shot of flame equaling her own namesake.

"You… Cannot… Win!", Cinder growled. She was staggered, and unable to move too much. No Grimm ambush and her own ridiculous Faunus falling, literally falling, in combat meant a failure. She couldn't take another failure.

"Ruby! Do it! Back-blast clear!", Jaune shouted.

Ruby Rose took her initiative and engaged _Rose Iuniperorum_. A devastating attack that used her _Silver Eyes_ and the help of her teammates. A blast of white light bathed Cinder Grimm, the opponent reeling back in agony. The blast of Silver light seemed to pierce through Cinder's Grimm form; bits of white bony plates disintegrated leaving only a slowly disintegrating black hulk left. Cinder Grimm's remains didn't move.

Jaune rather calmy walked over to Cinder Grimm's prone form. The villain formerly known as Cinder was still in one piece, smoking like an ashed cigar and unmoving. Even the power of Love and Silver Eyes couldn't truly kill a being made of pure unadulterated rage and spite. He couldn't tell if Cinder was breathing or not. He didn't even know if Grimm needed to breathe.

"Ehh… I think she's dead. Welp, one for safety!", Jaune noted as he shot Cinder Grimm again. He couldn't be too sure.

"I think that was unnecessary, Jaune.", Pyrrha chided.

"Yeah, you're right.", Jaune agreed, before shooting Cinder again.

"Jaune!", Pyrrha exclaimed.

"What?", Jaune asked as he shot Cinder again.

Pyrrha just turned around and threw her arms in the air as she walked back towards Argus. She was fairly sure that Cinder was dead. There wasn't any real need to abuse her corpse. Ren and Nora followed behind her. Rhames scanned the treeline and followed back as well. The Faunus Friends and Yang covered their retreat. Jaune shot Cinder again.

X

The group continued back to Argus. It was quieter, the sounds of battle were beginning to wane. They could see Cordovin and her mech fighting some kind of massive Grimm on the shoreline, a bronze Pyrrha stood beside her and flanked her target. On occasion, a volley of rockets fired from the street impacted the massive Grimm; it seemed that Junior Xiong had survived the battle as well and offered his support.

"Hey, look down there!", Yang shouted. She could see the shape of a bowler hat on a prone shape atop a nearby building. The wearer was offering sniper support and a small flash of shattering glass on the streets heralded Mr. Torchwick and Neo offering their support as well.

"Heh, seems like we missed a fun battle.", Jaune noted.

"We did. I'm picking up a message from the _Knightshade_.", Blake said, pulling out her Scroll.

"…Let them huddle in fear, knowing that we defended Haven. We few Faunus, alone with one purpose. Let the people know that we are coming to Argus to aid them against the forces of evil. Let them stare to the mountain tops at the newly formed Ivory Fang and their ten thousand troops commanding thirty-thousand free Faunus. Let us free the city of Argus from evil and tyranny as we remember Blake Belladonna and the Battle of Haven. Let us usher in freedom for all! To victory!...", the message concluded.

"Hm. Seems like little Ilia did well for herself. I'm glad you were there for her.", Adam noted.

"That was sorta anti-climactic. I was expecting fire and flames and death and destruction! Cinder Grimm wasn't very hard to beat.", Rhames noted. He wasn't wrong. There really hadn't been any kind of heartbreaking fight on a cliffside with a waterfall and drama. For once, everybody lived and nobody died. Haven had been a better battlefield.

The group continued back into Argus. The Grimm threat had mostly been neutralized. A few stragglers and not much more. Cordovin and Cherno-Beta and Bronze Pyrrha had done most of the heavy lifting. Junior Xiong and Roman Torchwick lifted glasses of emerald wine to each-other and then to Team RWBYJNPRRSA as they entered. Neo waved at them happily.

The battle was technically over, but the war had just begun. They couldn't forget that. Argus had been ravaged thoroughly. Faunus troops stood side by side with Atlesian soldiers offering aid to those that had been injured in the fight. The _Ivory Fang_ was present and offering aid to everyone. Ruby began to think about something for a moment.

"Uhh guys. What happened to Qrow, Oscar, Maria and Weiss?", Ruby asked nonchalantly.

"Oh… right. Them. Well, I guess we didn't need Plan W anyways. I guess they're all back at the Atlas Base. Haha…", Jaune noted awkwardly.

"Plan W?", Blake asked.

"Well, err… It's the plan where we stow Weiss into the crates to be loaded onto a cargo airship and then they commandeer it, taking us to Atlas under Cordovin's nose.", Jaune added.

"So wait. Has Weiss been locked in a box this whole time!?", Yang asked incredulously.

"Oh uh, I hope not. Qrow was supposed to abort the plan the moment I told him everything was fine.", Jaune said.

"Did you tell him?", Yang asked.

"Nope, I totally forgot until just now. So probably… yeah.", Jaune noted. He frantically dialed Qrow's number on his Scroll.

"Uhh hey… Jaune. What's up?", Qrow slurred. He was drunk.

"Abort Plan W. Unlock the box you put Weiss into.", Jaune commanded.

"Yeah, we didn't do Plan W. It was too much effort…", Qrow slurred.

"So what did you do?", Jaune asked.

"We got drunk off Weiss' Atlesian Brandy and played Parcheesi. Oh and Oscar can hold his liquor real well for a teenage boy.", Qrow trailed off.

Jaune hung up abruptly.

"So what happened? Is Weiss okay?", Ruby asked.

"Nope, Weiss died. She suffocated to death inside the crate and then Qrow and Ozpin got drunk and played Parcheesi while we fought for our lives.", Jaune noted.

"R… Really?", Ruby asked on the verge of tears.

"Nope. Weiss, Qrow and Ozpin got drunk and then they all played Parcheesi while we were out fighting for our lives.", Jaune noted.

"I don't know which to believe. They got drunk or they played board games while we were fighting. Weiss probably isn't dead either.", Yang said.

Pyrrha had been toning out her teams banter for while. This whole conversation had gotten weird all of a sudden. She turned back to them.

"Maybe we should just go back to the base and find out for ourselves.", Pyrrha noted.

The team agreed and decided to make haste for the Atlas Base. Cordovin and Cherno-Beta were waiting for them on the small island. Bronze Pyrrha also stood, lamppost in hand next to the giant robot. Cordovin and Pandora were having a pleasant conversation.

"…A woman like you should be in charge. With this final battle, I may finally be able to file for early retirement. You should take my place, you have truly shown your abilities!", Cordovin said.

"Well, I was only doing what was right. My daughter would've done the same.", Pandora noted quietly.

"Mom?", Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, Pyrrha! Hello, again! Cordovin was just asking me if I wanted to take over the Atlas base when she retires. I think I just might!", Pandora beamed.

"Well, that's good. We were heading to Atlas right now. If you take over the base, we'll get to see each-other more often…", Pyrrha noted.

"Well, I'm definitely taking the offer then, Ms. Cordovin.", Pandora said.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'll be filing my papers as soon as Mr. Arc and his friends leave. Then I'm headed for some nice tropical land where nothing ever happens and that's not a euphemism for a hospice!", Cordovin concluded.

"I'll miss you, Auntie Cordovin.", Jaune said.

"Hehehe… Hahahaaaa…. Yes. I'll miss you too, Jaune.", Cordovin added.

The group headed farther into the base. As it turned out; Qrow, Ozcar and Weiss weren't playing Parcheesi after all. They were playing Remnant: The Game, Weiss was winning, and they were all drunk off of Atlesian Brandy. Several nubuck guards were passed out in drunken stupor around them, having celebrated victory a little too hard. Ilia Amitola stood in the corner watching various security feeds.

"Ilia? Hey… I… I want you to meet… Adam Branwen.", Blake said hesitantly.

Ilia turned around slowly and laid eyes upon someone that she used to know. Someone that she used to look up to. But now, it seemed like she didn't know him anymore. This man looked sad, as if a thousand lies forged his fate and a thousand suns had shown him the light. A man with the burdens of living in the dark, as dark had made him who he was, but now in the light he was something different.

"Adam Taurus?", Ilia asked, she wasn't sure. He looked like Adam, and he sounded like Adam, but he didn't act like the indomitable Adam Taurus.

"No. Adam _Branwen_. Adam Taurus is… _dead_. I _killed_ him. He was a monster, he cared only for himself and his self righteous cause. He didn't care. He didn't care about anyone but himself! He's gone. For good.", Adam said half in rage and half in sadness.

"But you… You're Adam Taurus, or you were…", Ilia noted.

"I was… But, I changed. I'm not him. I'm me. I'm better now and I'm sorry for everything I've done. I used your hate against you. I used everyone's hate to fuel my own. I have done some many wrongs I can't ever redeem myself. My only wish now is to see the Faunus succeed. For them to live. If they're happy, I'm happy. It's all I need to know.", Adam mused.

"Blake, what happened to Adam Taurus?", Ilia asked in confusion.

"Adam… Adam Taurus died. He's gone. That's all I can say. I can't explain it. Something happened and it changed him…", Blake mused.

"The _Ivory Fang_ is all I'd ever dreamed of. True justice. True equality. You're doing well. I couldn't be more proud of you. Keep moving forwards, Ilia. Forever and always.", Adam concluded.

Ilia was more than confused. She didn't know what had happened after the Battle of Haven. She'd seen the rage in Adam Taurus, but now that had gone cold. And in the place of rage, a deep sadness had grown. She had nothing to fear anymore, but she still cared for the now broken leader of the once feared White Fang.

While Team RWBY talked with their friends, Ilia, Qrow and Ozpin, Jaune and Pyrrha shared a moment alone. Jaune's powers were growing. Things were beginning to happen that were going to change both of their _Fates_ for good or worse. Pyrrha had some questions and Jaune wasn't sure he had the answers for them.

"Jaune. Your Semblance can split worlds. It's tripping between realities. What is it really? What are you doing?", Pyrrha asked.

"I'm not sure anymore. I thought it was just time manipulation, slow down, stop and reverse. I think it's more. The dreams, Pyrrha. Have you been having the dreams?", Jaune asked.

"The dreams? The dreams of different worlds? Like the one I just visited where I was _dead_?", Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah, those. I don't think they're dreams. What if my Semblance is creating new worlds? What if every time we might've died, we did, but I created one where we didn't? What if you were supposed to die and we're the alternative? I don't know…", Jaune mused.

"Could you use your Semblance to go back to those worlds? Maybe temporarily? I let go of your hand when you were… Reversing time… I _went_ to one of those worlds, only for a few moments…", Pyrrha mused.

"I don't know… Do you want to try it? I've only seen the _worlds between worlds_ when I've used it for long _jump_s. Maybe you're just a passenger? You came right back to me when you grabbed my hand again… Is it like a portal? Can we just think of a moment and you'll just zip back there?", Jaune theorized.

"We won't know until we try it. I let go for a second… Can you use it now? Just jump us back a few moments?", Pyrrha asked.

"No… I can't… I don't want to lose you forever. I don't know the extent of this. I need to practice this a bit more… Alone…", Jaune concluded.

Pyrrha wasn't going to get her answer right now. Jaune might be capable of jumping through more than just time. Perhaps he could jump between worlds as well. It was becoming a weirder and weirder place. Testing her theory right now was counter-productive. However, that sad world she'd been to… She did want to go back to it… She would be godlike in it. And that made her feel happy…

**Chapter End. Worlds between Worlds. More to come. I guess. I've been playing other games, Witcher trilogy and the Outer Worlds. Vol. 7 awaits…**


	36. Meanwhile

Chapter 34: Meanwhile Back at the…

While Team RWBYJNPRROSAQ were off having adventures, the world continued to turn and everyone else went on with their lives. This is a tale of what happened while they were off saving the universe. This tale begins back in… A very unhappy purple land where everything bad always happened.

In this land bathed in purple light, a green-haired girl and a somewhat moody boy got out of their Oobleck Rideshare vehicle and began to make their way up to the large H-shaped ruins of Hyperion's old orbital base. A long time ago, Hyperion had attempted to send their corporate headquarters into geo-stationary orbit. Unfortunately, dust didn't work in space and it came crashing down in this hellscape. The duo continued to walk up and into the lobby of the structure. They could hear voices inside.

"Ah, so… Aurum right? You're supposed to by the perky rebel girl, okay? And then Cobalt is the moody boy. Please don't get yourselves killed like my last two minions… Uhh… Gallium and Sapphire…", a voice noted.

"I believe they were called 'Mercury' and 'Emerald'.", a male voice corrected.

"Shut up, Watts! Adults are talking! Keep making chicken noises like a good little pet!", the first voice shouted.

Emerald walked into the main hall to see her Lord and Mistress, Salem, talking to their apparent replacements. Watts was dressed in a chicken suit for some reason.

"Ahem…", Emerald coughed.

"Oh! Hey… You other two, get out of here… I don't need you anymore. Go find Hazel and drag him out of whatever hole he's hiding in!", Salem commanded, Cobalt and Aurum left the room abruptly.

"So they're alive. Can I stop- I mean… Bawwk! Bawwk!", Watts announced as he pranced around like an idiot.

"Oh good! You're back. Did you find the relic in Vacuo? Did you find any Maidens?", Salem asked.

"Err… No, my lady. We got captured and thrown down a hole.", Emerald stammered.

"Also, Grimm:Lock is dead.", Mercury added.

"I know. That's why I needed a new pet Faunus. Meet Cockbite, my new Chicken Faunus!", Salem exclaimed as she pointed to Watts.

"Bawwk! Awwk!", Watts cawed.

"Uhhhmm… Hi?", Emerald said awkwardly.

"Oh don't mind him. He knows that he's failed me too many times. This is your second failure, Green girl. Do you want to know what happens on your third?", Salem asked.

"Uhh… What happens?", Emerald asked, she really didn't want to know.

"You get to have a pool party! You both go swimming in my Grimm Pools and whatever pops out afterwards does a better job than you are doing now! Doesn't that sound fun?", Salem noted.

"Yes… It does…", Emerald agreed hesitantly.

"Well, it isn't. Because you will die horribly in the Grimm Pools as you're dissolved into goo. But you haven't failed me a third time yet. How about you two head to Atlas and try to redeem yourselves? Go ahead and take Cockbite and Hazel, they're your minions now.", Salem noted.

"O-okay… Come on Dr. Cockbite, let's go find Hazel and head to Atlas…", Emerald stammered.

"Awwwk-kay.", Watts cawed.

Watts, still in his chicken suit, led Emerald and Mercury downstairs to the full-liquor-bar where Hazel was currently passed out. Hazel was wearing a crow costume and channeling his inner Qrow by drinking heavily and passing out. Emerald and Mercury collected the prone man and began to make their way to the exit. Mistress Salem was beginning to get a little weird, not that she'd been entirely normal to begin with.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, back in Vale… Taiyang and his friends from Beacon Academy enjoyed some carrot stew in the Xiao-Long homestead. Peter Port, Bartholomew Oobleck, Glynda Goodwitch and Taiyang himself sat around a table. Several bowls of traditional Mistrali Carrot Stew sat in front of them. Things seemed normal for once.

"So! How's Beacon doing without Ozpin at the helm?", Taiyang asked.

"Good. Great, actually… We've changed the initiation ceremony into a more normal combat trial. No more flying students. Classes are organized and everyone knows what they're doing. There's no more obfuscating stupidity going on. I'm pleased.", Glynda noted.

Professor Goodwitch had become the headmistress in Ozpin's absence and had taken to running the school more formally. Beacon would always be the best place to train future Huntsmen, except now there were no more 'mysterious circumstances'. The Vytal Festival was coming at the end of the year and Beacon had built their own arena outside of the school in preparation.

"I am genuinely surprised how well it's been. Ever since that big Grimm was removed, we've had an influx of new students. Perhaps Miss Nikos' attendance inspired many to attend.", Oobleck noted.

"And classes are packed with capable Huntsmen. I have never seen so many willing and capable young men and women! I'm running out of Grimm Frogs to use as training dummies!", Port added.

"Ha! That's great. So… What's the weirdest Semblance you've seen?", Taiyang asked.

"Oh, that's this new kid. Jermy Farhtz. He has… intestinal issues… that can literally blow up his opponents. I'd say that's the weirdest so far…", Glynda noted.

"Okay… How's business Bart?", Taiyang asked.

"It is going well. Except most of my delivery drivers are going missing! My rideshare drivers are reporting massive tips, however!", Oobleck noted.

"Great! Well, good for you… Hey, soup's getting cold. Better eat up!", Taiyang concluded.

It was a nice little afternoon lunch for Taiyang Xiao-Long and his friends. Nothing bad was happening and everything was in order. He was somewhat concerned about his children, but they could handle the Grimm. He thought for a moment, perhaps he should take the offer Glynda had proposed; they needed a new combat teacher, and he wasn't doing anything right now…

XXXXX

Meanwhile, back in… Argus… Team RWBY, JNPR, and friends began to board their airship. It was time to finally leave Argus and head for Atlas. It had been a long time coming, battles, fun, and meeting new and old friends. Jaune and Pyrrha were both silent for some reason. Ren and Nora embraced and loaded their luggage onto the airship. Yang and Blake loaded the inebriated Weiss and Oscar into the luggage compartment.

Sun Wukong stood aside, he wasn't going with them. He had decided to stay with Ilia and the Ivory Fang. Adam Branwen said his goodbyes as well. Although he was still Adam _Taurus_ to Ilia, he knew his battle tactics. Ilia had asked him to stay as well, since the Ivory Fang needed a second opinion to its new operations. He wasn't in charge, per se, but was to be an advisor. Rhames bid him farewell and promised to keep in touch. Adam had done what he'd needed to do with Yang and her family, now he needed to truly redeem himself to the Faunus of the world.

Rhames went through the motions of packing his weapons, although they were figments of his Semblance. He loaded incorporeal box after box of weapons into the luggage compartment. He was doing this more or less to humor his friends. The only real piece of luggage he had was the weird blue bong he'd gotten from his mother. He really didn't need much else.

Little Old Maria slowly walked up the gangway onto the airship. She had a tin of cashew cookies heartwarmingly baked by her old nemesis, Caroline Cordovin. The other small woman had run off to file her retirement papers and left Pandora Nikos in charge of the battlestation. Several Nubuck guards were running the incredibly confused red-haired woman through their daily tasks. Pandora had no idea how to run a military base. Bronze Pyrrha stood at a permanent salute at the entrance to the base.

Qrow and Ozcar Pin walked side by side into the ship. Qrow was skeptical, but Ozpin had never led him wrong until recently. Qrow knew how to play this out; keep his best cards close and his worst out in the open. Play the game and bet on the loser. He wasn't entirely sure anymore, but he wouldn't let Ozcar know that. He still needed him until he didn't.

Jaune and Pyrrha boarded the ship last. They knew something the others didn't. Jaune knew the extent of his own abilities and that Pyrrha was the only one who could enhance them. He knew what they could both do. He knew that it had been confirmed the day they had met. He knew that _fate_ was in their control. And _destiny_ was whatever they made it. Pyrrha knew her own _fate._ She knew what she needed to do. And she took glee in it. She knew that everything had happened because of one man. One incredible person. She knew that the future hadn't been set in stone and they could change _anything_. They could really do anything.

The airship took off at last. It flew off, taking off from the small Atlas base and headed for Atlas. General Ironwood and his army awaited them. Jaune's uncle and his teammates waited for them to land at the Academy. Another relic was within their grasp. The Grimm could take their loved ones, take their land, and take them where they couldn't stand. They knew the risks but didn't care; they were still free. The Grimm could never take their skies from them. They all knew the risks, but pressed onwards. They only thing they could do now was keep moving forwards. Forever and always.

XXXXX

Meanwhile… Somewhere else… Something awoke… It was pain embodied. It was rage embodied. It was unadulterated rage and spite for all that had come to it. It hated the world an what had happened recently. Burning hatred and death. It arose again from presume death. The beast, now even less human and something more… Something worse and something incredible stood up again.

A Faunus, having survived a fall that would've killed a normal one climbed up a cliff and saw this new creature. Not human, not Grimm, but something greater. Always something greater. The Faunus knelt down, bending the knee to its new god; its new godstaring upon it.

"Arise, my champion. We are not of this world anymore. We are something far greater… Something more than has ever been percieved. I died twice… Now…", the creature noted.

The new beast spit out five bullets as it retched and spasmed inhumanly.

"Now, we are immortal. Once cursed, now blessed. I was both. Human; Maiden; Grimm. I am so much more now. I understand our Mistress… We are now equal.", the creature noted.

"I understand as well… Cinder…", the Faunus, Fjord Taurus, noted.

"I'm glad you do. I've lived and died… And now I live again...", Cinder Something noted.

The villain formerly known as Cinder Fall was no longer fully Grimm and not entirely human either. She was something of a hybrid. Untouchable from the light of the Silver Eyed Warriors and now nearly impervious to physical damage. She was something greater and something horrible. She knew he new abilities; for once a thief told her that he'd survived by lying, cheating and adapting to situations. She had certainly learned how to adapt… And now she could adapt to anything. She was more than human and more than Grimm.

Cinder looked to the horizon as an airship took to the skies. She traced it, sensing the strong Aura within. She knew where she had to go and what she had to do now. Her body was changed, her humanity strained, and her rage inflamed, but by the gods she liked it. She'd never know the full extent of her power unless she followed her instincts. And she knew exactly what she was going to do.

**Chapter End. Probably a shorter one. Need to try to corrupt Volume 7. Make it make sense, sorta… Enjoy.**


	37. A Brief Intermission

Chapter 35: A Brief Intermission

**So… Volume 7 has ended and I still need more time to 'corrupt' it so that it fits into the alternate-canon of this bizarre universe. I killed Tyrian earlier in this fanfic, so the Ace-Holes and Qrowver canon is going to have to change a bit. Also there needs more Irondaddy drama. I've usually condensed most of RWBY so that I don't have to write that much, but Alt-V7 is going to have to be drawn out significantly more. **

-XXXXX-

Team RWBY and JNPRR alongside Qrow, Ozcar Pine and Maria sat quietly in the passenger section of the bullhead airship they'd managed to abscond with. Their airship pilot had unfortunately recognized Weiss Schnee as one of his previous passengers and lambasted her not to fall onto any of the door controls this time; she'd be falling directly into the ocean. Senior Pilot Augustus Boye was weary and wanted esperately to just get the team of mixmatched teenagers and Huntsmen to Atlas and then go directly to the pub.

"So… How long until we're in Atlas?", Jaune asked Pilot Boye.

"About an hour or so. Maybe more. I've picked up transmissions that the Ace Operatives have been deployed into the middle of the ocean for some reason. I like to keep track of the military frequencies to avoid delays…", Pilot Boye responded.

"Ace Operatives?", Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah. They're like Atlas' special forces. A group of the best Huntsmen to ever attend Atlas Academy.", Pilot Boye added.

"Wait, how come you've never heard of them, Jaune?", Nora asked.

"Ehh, never paid much attention to them. They're a bunch of Ace-Holes if you know what I mean. Always getting into my father's business…", Jaune mused.

"Any delays?", Ren noted.

"Yeah. We're going to have to fly through Atlas' embargo and right through whatever the Ace Ops are dealing with. No other way around it with the amount of fuel we have.", Pilot Boye said.

"Oh great. A toll booth.", Jaune mocked.

"Not a toll booth, kid. Looks more like a giant flying H.", Qrow noted as he saw the large oddly flying H in the distance. A large number of Atlas fighter ships were surrounding it as blasts of energy fired vaguely in their direction.

"Oh. Hey, that's Helios! What's it doing so far outside of Mantle?", Jaune mused.

"Couldn't tell you. Looks like your daddy pissed off Atlas somehow.", Qrow noted.

The airship flew closer to Helios, the now obvious laser blasts missed the small airship by several meters. Warning shots.

"Hey, Jaune! Get on the radio and tell Helios you're not a threat. Otherwise we'll be sleeping with the squids!", Pilot Boye exclaimed.

"Right, so what's this ship's callsign?", Jaune asked.

"F44T-BVR. Radio in and tell them who you are.", Pilot Boye said increasingly worried.

A loud squawk and the radio crackled to life. "Uhh… This is Jaune Arc of Hyperion Weapons and Technology. I am on board… uhh… Fat Beaver, the little airship from Argus that you're shooting at. Please stop."

"Argus Bullhead, callsign… Fat Beaver? What's your intention?", a voice asked. It sounded female and cold.

"We want to land in Atlas. This is again, Jaune Arc of Hyperion. Son of John 'Tassiter' Arc, heir to Hyperion de blah de blah skittles and balls and ass.", Jaune mocked.

"Hello, Jaune! Tell your pilot to land in docking bay 343. Welcome home, kiddo!", another voice radioed over.

"Uhh… Who was that?", Ruby asked.

"My dad. John Arc, aka Tassiter. The creator of the first laser pistol, the Tassiter.", Jaune explained.

"We're supposed to be landing in Atlas! Helios appears to be under attack!", Pilot Boye stated hesitantly.

"Well, land on Helios. You can refuel or something. I don't see us getting over, under or around Helios at the moment.", Jaune noted.

Pilot Boye sighed and began to navigate towards the docking bays. Another fun trip on board an airship. Helios' suppressing fire kept various Atlas military personnel off of the tiny airship.

"Oh and kiddo, you're now a fugitive in Atlas. Sorry about that in advance.", Tassiter Arc noted as the ship began to land.

"Oh for fu… Great! Nice going, Jaune!", Qrow clapped loudly and sarcastically. "Now we're all going to go to Atlas in chains!"

"Calm down! I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding. Atlas would never attack its main supplier of weapons! I mean, who else are they going to use? Polendina Labs? Merlot Industries? Last time I checked, Schnee Dust didn't make guns!", Jaune mused.

"Well, it appears that they are. This is going to make things significantly more difficult. James Ironwood does not know I've regenerated yet. I doubt he will believe the words of wisdom coming from a juvenile delinquent.", Ozcar lamented.

"If you're planning a frontal assault on Atlas, I suggest you think of something else. I'm not going to jail or worse for you lot!", Pilot Boye argued.

"Attacking Atlas seems to be a terrible idea. Maybe we can just talk to them. From the safety of Helios.", Ren countered.

"Tch, yeah. We're gonna have to do that now. No other choices, team.", Yang added.

"I thought you'd enjoy the fight, Yang. We'll get to go in guns blazing right up to Ironwood himself. He'll be impressed!", Jaune noted.

"A fight against the Grimm maybe. I'm not fighting the entire military of a kingdom, Jaune. It's just us four, you, Pyrrha and maybe Rhames and Nora. I doubt Ren wants to die like this.", Yang argued.

"No, don't involve me yet. I'm a Maiden and I like being a Maiden… and also alive. I'm sticking with Ren's plan to talking to Atlas.", Pyrrha added.

"We're landing. Please get the hell off of my ship.", Pilot Boye announced. The airship had landed and was now surrounded by several dozen squads of Hyperion Assault robots.

The doors of the airship opened abruptly and launched all of the two teams luggage out into the docking bay. Pilot Boye himself with the help of Ozcar and Qrow proceeded to eject Team RWBY and JNPRR out as well. Soon, the two teams stood surrounded by robots.

"Okay, loader bots, escort Jaune and his colorful friends directly to my penthouse office. Grab the drinks and the snacks. The prodigal son returns!", Tassiter Arc announced from the intercom.

The robots didn't allow anyone to grab their weapons or equipment, all of it was wheeled off haphazardly by Hyperion's 'Clappers' to parts unknown. The seven foot tall heavily armored robots forced the group of friends and other friends down a cattle chute made of death and pain into an elevator that slowly began to rise.

"Right, so you'll probably want to hold onto something…", Jaune noted.

"Why?", Pyrrha asked as she was suddenly slammed into the floor of the elevator as it blasted off towards the highest floor. Helios had a rocket-propelled elevator because why wouldn't it.

Several hundred floors whizzed by at breakneck speeds. Team RWBY and JNPRR suddenly slammed into the ceiling of the elevator as it came to a halt. Everyone except Jaune, of course who had braced himself. The doors opened and dumped out Jaune and friends in a pile of mangled limbs.

"Welcome home, son! Oh… I guess the brakes on the elevator failed again. Are your friends alright?", Tassiter Arc noted as he stared at the pile of Huntsmen pouring out of the elevator.

"We're fine… urrgh…", Ruby and her teammates groaned.

"Well, you're certianly doing well for yourself, Jaune! You've got a harem!", Tassiter Arc laughed.

"Uhh… No.", Jaune stated.

"Oh come on! Three dudes and all these lovely ladies! How about you all introduce yourselves! You're in the hall of heroes!", Tassiter boasted.

"I'm Ruby Rose… This is my sister, Yang…", Ruby noted.

"Blake.", said Blake.

"Weiss Schnee of-"

"Of Schnee Dust", Tassiter Arc interrupted.

"I am Lie Ren, son of Li Ren and slayer of the Nuckalevee.", Ren announced.

"And I'm Nora! Nora Valkyrie!", Nora exclaimed.

"Oh fantastic! I know your uncle and he is a very strong man.", Tassiter Arc noted. Nora beamed.

"I'm Oscar Pine and this is my chaperone Qrow Branwen.", Ozcar Pin lied.

"Yeah yeah, the Drunken Crow and Farmy Poof. Great to meet you.", Tassiter mocked.

"I'm-"

"You're Rhames Greyblood, the son of the Mad King. I know who you are.", Tassiter Arc noted.

"Uhh and this is-"

"Pyrrha Nikos, the world famous athlete and Pumpkin Pete's mascot.", Tassiter noted.

"Good, great! That's everyone. How nice. Jaune, you've done very well. Did you learn anything while you were at Beacon Academy? It's been nothing but boredom and failure up here. Nothing but Ironwood and the Ace-Holes knocking on my door.", Tassiter explained.

"What's going on? Why is Atlas attacking the HQ?", Jaune asked.

"A little misunderstanding and inadvertent kidnapping. It seems that Agent Carolina of the Atlas Freelancer's Union was still on board when I decided to secede from Mantle. Don't worry, she's fine! I think. I haven't checked on her in a while. Probably fine!", Tassiter Arc stated.

Jaune and friends noted a banging noise on a nearby door. The door was labelled 'closet'. It seemed that Tassiter Arc had locked Agent Carolina in the broom closet after he'd found out that she was still on board when he left. Jaune walked over and opened the door, revealing a disheveled and angry red-haired agent.

"You! What are you doing!? Where are we!?", Agent Carolina exclaimed.

"You sound familiar…", Pyrrha noted. Agent Carolina turned to face Pyrrha awkwardly.

"You do too…", Carolina noted.

"Welp, cat's out of the bag… We're over the ocean between Mistral and Mantle. I'm claiming sovereignty. I want independence from Atlas to operate as a free city.", Tassiter Arc announced.

"General Ironwood will never agree to that!", Carolina stated loudly.

"Well, he will. I've got a big purple death cannon and he's got a big flying target. He can't refuse me.", Tassiter noted.

"You would shoot down Atlas? You'd be committing genocide!", Carolina cried.

"Ehh… It's the thought that counts. I've got the weapons and army to go to war here, Carrie. Go ahead and call up Irondaddy.", Tassiter mocked.

The flustered Agent Carolina did exactly that. She activated her emergency retrieval radio and called General James Ironwood directly. A few seconds later, a large hologram of the man of honor appeared in Tassiter Arc's office.

"Arc!", Ironwood roared.

"Hey, Jamie! How's it going? Did you forget about my death cannon?", Tassiter mused mockingly.

"You are committing treason! High treason! You're subject to death! Return and be tried for your crimes immediately!", Ironwood screamed.

"Gotta say NO, Captain. I've got the ability to disable every Hyperion weapon in your arsenal and I've got the ability to blast your silly flying city out of the sky. How about we negotiate my terms of freedom?", Tassiter mused.

"Freedom!? You want freedom!? I've given you everything already. You've got more power than the council when it comes to what you do.", Ironwood complained.

"I want true freedom. I want Helios to be a free city, ungoverned by Atlas or Mantle. I want to be the king of my little castle with my own laws. You've got to allow that. We'll still be allies, but I'll have the ultimate choice when it comes to who and what I sell my weapons to. This embargo is killing my profits.", Tassiter argued.

"And if I did that, then Schnee Dust, Merlot Industries, and others would want the same freedom. Why should I let _you_ have that freedom?", Ironwood countered.

"Because I have the research and technology to end this war with one shot. Any war with one shot. I know you know what you saw when I fired the Eye of Helios. I can do it again and again. I can do it until I have my freedom.", Tassiter stated. "Merlot and Schnee can't even do that. I've got the weapon of choice and not even my competitors can contest it when I can just use it to take what I want from them. By force, if need be. But it doesn't have to be like that."

James Ironwood looked like he was about to explode. He was staring down the literal and figurative Death Star of Remnant. Unfortunately, Arc was right. He could shoot down Atlas, he could shoot down Schnee Dust and Merlot Industries, he could take over Mantle. All he wanted was freedom to do as he pleased. Hyperion would no longer be limited to Atlas and would operate like a Huntsman, taking jobs and offers from the rest of the world. Ironwood sighed loudly. If Schnee Dust tried to do the same, he'd probably have to allow them freedom as well, the same with Merlot Industries. Mantle would be governed by the Council, its people still abiding its laws, but the larger corporations would become provinces governed internally. It wasn't that bad of an idea, honestly. Only time would tell if the SDC and Merlot Industries would attempt the same thing.

"Arc… You make a compelling point. What does Atlas receive in exchange for your total freedom?", Ironwood asked.

"We still maintain our contracts, albeit with a bit of an increase in prices. And no more restrictions on our research into refined Dust. You also get exclusive use of our Eye of Helios to use against mutual enemies. I get final say over anything that is proposed, however. And that final say extends to my son and his friends as you can see here. They are official citizens of Titania, the new official name of Hyperion Weapons and Technology.", Tassiter announced.

Ironwood seemed to freeze for a moment. He was thinking it over. He briefly thought of Atlas falling from the sky and landing on Mantle itself, crushing the people and annihilating everything he'd worked to create. Arc didn't know what he was up against. He didn't know of the White Queen and her plans. He'd lead the remnants of Mantle to its death along with the rest of the world. He facepalmed hard and long.

"John Tassiter Arc and his son, Jaune Arc. I hereby declare the Hyperion to be known as Titania effective immediately. You are now a province of Mantle, free to operate as its own government and city-state in the kingdom of Atlas and beyond. All of your employees and those you declare are now citizens of your own tenure. I only wish that you return to the protection of the Kingdom of Atlas…", Ironwood announced, his hologram fading out.

"See that wasn't so hard, now was it!? You heard him, kiddos! You're all now citizens of Titania! Free to operate however you please. In fact, you're all now licensed Huntsmen and Huntressed of Titania. You'll be recognized as official Huntsmen around the world!", Tassiter Arc announced.

A few moments after Tassiter's announcement, a few Hyperion Clappers handed out official Huntsman licenses to Team RWBY and JNPR. Rhames and Qrow were already licensed and Ozcar was too young to be a Huntsman.

"Woo! Look we're all official Huntsmen now!", Nora beamed.

"Oh yeah! Great!", Ren noted.

"Official Huntsmen and Huntresses of Titania… I never saw this coming…", Blake mused.

"Wow! Bravo! Champagne! Slow-clap! We did it, kiddo! We're now free to do as we please! How's that sound?", Tassiter Arc noted to his son, Jaune.

"Sounds great, dad! In fact, I think I'm going to do something proactive!", Jaune announced.

"Really, son? What are you going to do?", Tassiter Arc asked.

"I'm taking over Hyperion.", Jaune announced as he pulled out _Unforgiven_.

"Wait… What!?", Tassiter stammered.

"See, I can't have a psychopathic father threatening our lives and the world when he doesn't know what really going on here. I know what's really going on. You did the heavy lifting for me, you really did. I'm happy for you. You think you're the hero of this story, but you're not. I am…", Jaune said coldly.

"Jaune, what are you saying!? I've done everything for you! I gave you everything you could have ever wanted! Everything you could ever have is within this fortress!", Tassiter cried.

"See? That's just the thing. You gave me everything you wanted. Not what I wanted. I am not a pawn to this twisted fate you have for me. I'm free, just like Hyperion.", Jaune noted as he walked closer to his own father.

"Do you… Do you have any idea how much I sacrificed for you, Jaune!? The corporations I've destroyed, the people I've manipulated? I did it all for you!", Tassiter screamed. He was backed into a corner.

"Jaune! Stop… What are you doing?", Ruby cried.

"I'm doing what I should've done a long time ago, Ruby Rose.", Jaune said.

"I'm not sure this is wise…", Ren noted.

"Then shut your goddamn mouth then. You don't know him like I do. All my life… You made me… Made me do what you wanted…", Jaune cried.

"Jaune… Do what is right…", Pyrrha mused. She knew what was going to happen. She'd seen it in a dream. Another reality…

"You're a savage… You're a psychopath… You're a money-hungry glutton… But I… I am the goddamn hero!", Jaune announced.

Jaune shot. He didn't blink and he didn't flinch. He shot John 'Tassiter' Arc in the chest with the third chamber of _Unforgiven_. Tassiter Arc fell, slumping backwards into his own desk and then falling lifelessly to the ground. Jaune didn't check for a pulse. He pointed to the robots standing stoicly around the room. He then pointed to his father's body.

"Dispose of that.", Jaune commanded. The robots obeyed. John Tassiter Arc was given an impromptu burial at sea.

"Now, there's an elephant in the room. Agent Carolina, right? I'll give you a head start. You're now a fugitive in the City of Titania. You have maybe… five or ten minutes before the robots come for you. I suggest that you leave. Now.", Jaune noted.

Agent Carolina didn't hesitate. She ran for the door before realizing that the elevator was too slow. Instead, she turned and ran towards the large bay window behind Tassiter Arc's desk. She jumped towards the glass and broke through, falling out of the window and towards the ocean hundreds of meters below. Jaune simply looked out the window towards the water and pulled back as he saw a distant splash. A terminal velocity impact with the ocean would literally liquefy Agent Carolina on impact. She probably wasn't coming back.

"Now, does anyone have any objections to what I just did?", Jaune asked the room.

"Nope! You're good Jaune.", Nora noted.

"That was… probably a bad idea.", Blake mused.

"And I thought my relationship with _my_ dad was bad… Oh man…", Rhames noted.

"Meh, I saw that coming a mile away…", Yang said apathetically.

"Jaune… Are you still a good guy?", Ruby asked.

"I'm the hero, Ruby… Don't forget that.", Jaune replied.

"Jaune… You did it… You defied your _fate_…", Pyrrha mused.

"Yes, I did. And doesn't it feel sooo good. Can you feel the electricity in the air when you kill something? Because I do… And it feels sooo good…", Jaune waxed.

"You're all insane! What… What have you done!?", Qrow lamented.

"I did what I wanted. Titania is a free state. And now, I am the king. Hail to the king!", Jaune announced.

"Unbelievable… I had my doubts about you Jaune Arc… But now… I'm am truly unsure of your standing in this.", Ozcar noted.

"Then shut up and sit there before you end up like Carolina.", Jaune threatened.

Ozcar Pin stopped talking. Jaune seemed a little unhinged during his time at Beacon, but now… Jaune was sliding off the slippery slope. Ozpin still had his reasons and his mission, but to oppose Jaune now would lead to a very early regeneration somewhere else and nowhere near as close as he was now.

"What do we do now?", Ren asked. He was trying to play the middle man. Stay ot of conflict unless absolutely necessary. And if Pyrrha was right about Jaune's Semblance, then he had already been killed several times already.

"We take Helios back to Atlas and act casual.", Jaune noted.

"Sounds like a plan…", Ren mused. He genuinely wondered how many times Jaune had killed him and then reversed time. He could've killed everyone a thousand times over, buried them in a thousand graves. He stopped thinking about this fact and stared at the floor.

Jaune simply stared off out the broken window. Atlas and their military forces had turned back towards the capitol city. He pressed a button and commanded Helios to return as well. In one way or another, him and his Team were heading to Atlas. He would meet with General Ironwood and then proceed with whatever lay ahead of him. This was the day he had been waiting for.

"Oh, and everyone but Pyrrha… Please, I'm not Jaune anymore… Call me… Handsome Jaune…"

**Chapter End. Hurrah. Handsome Jaune is here.**


	38. Intermission Part Deux

XXXXX

Chapter 36: Intermission Part Deux

XXXXX

Handsome Jaune sat idly at his new big and spacious desk in the CEO's office of The Corporation Formerly Known as Hyperion Weapons and Technology. The office was spacious and decorated with images of all of Hyperion's technological feats. Long brown and gold tapestries hung from the walls. Pyrrha stayed by his side while their other teammates headed off to figure out where the 'Clappers' had taken their luggage. Team RWBY stayed in the office with him, they were unusually silent, probably trying to figure out what his goal was now that he had just brutally killed his own father and given himself a new name. Qrow and Ozzy Ozpin were across the room in the corner, occasionally staring at him and probably plotting something. Jaune really didn't care right now, he had everything he'd wanted; control over Hyperion.

"Jaune, are you really okay? I mean you just… Well… Uhhhmm…", Ruby stammered.

"Perfectly fine, lil' Rubes. Pyrrha knows, she knows I'd planned this from the start. It's fine.", Handsome Jaune reassured.

"I don't know about fine, Jaune- Err… _Handsome_ Jaune… You did just kill the CEO of Hyperion and your own Dad right in front of us. Then you killed Atlesian Special Agent Carolina, too. I think we're still going to be unwelcome in Atlas whenever this barge makes it there…", Yang noted, slightly uneasy.

"I'm still in it to win it, Yang. I just needed this, you don't have to know my reasons for it…", Handsome Jaune noted.

"H-Handsome Jaune, huh? Maybe I need a name change too, like Rowdy Rhames or Righteous Rhames… Whatever, man. If I could do the same that you just did, gosh I don't even know what I'd do… Probably take over the world or something, right?", Rhames joked, trying to lighten the mood. He failed.

"That's not my goal in the end, Rhames. We need more firepower if we're ever going to _end_ this. My father wouldn't have agreed to help us in any way; he was just too careful with the company. He only cared about profits. I can see the bigger picture.", Handsome Jaune explained. His friends were still uneasy.

"Well, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen. It's also not the best thing I've seen. As long as you're not planning on _disposing_ of us like Agent Carolina, then I guess we're still in this.", Blake mused.

"Yeah, not great and not terrible… Three point five roentgen…", Yang mused, staring into space idly.

"Yang? What exactly did you mean by that?", Handsome Jaune questioned.

"I dunno… I was just thinking about what's going to happen now.", mused.

"Nothing! Nothing is going to happen, Yang. My Uncle McDiarmid knew eventually this would happen. Everyone knew this was bound to happen in the Arc Family's weird traditions. My father killed his own father to gain control. Hyperion used to just be another small business making swords and tools for the people; he changed that. Uncle McDiarmid killed his own father in order to become leader of Mantle during the war… It's our _destiny_ to take control of our own! You wouldn't understand!", Jaune rambled. "We are always bound to become something greater. Always something greater than there was before!"

"I know, Jaune. They're just going to have to understand… Just like my family and the _temple_…", Pyrrha mused.

"Oookay… You guys are being cryptic. What's happening?", Weiss asked.

"If you could take control of your own _fate_ and change it… Would you? You could've been the heiress to an empire, yet you chose to become a Huntress. Ruby was just a child, a simple soul who became a warrior. Nothing is set in stone. I was to be a _martyr_ to the people. And now I am so much more than that…", Pyrrha mused.

"Our mission remains the same as its been. Find the relics and secure them, defeat Salem. Plain and simple.", Handsome Jaune noted.

Team RWBY just nodded in agreement. Handsome Jaune was still boundless Jaune, despite what had just happened. Perhaps there was more at work here. Still, the mission hadn't changed and they were still aimed at finding the relics. Ironwood would help them, right? He had to once he'd heard their side of the story and Ozpin would back them up.

X

Across the room and silently eavesdropping on the conversation, Qrow and Ozcar sat together. Qrow had always been loyal to Ozpin, now more than ever. Jaune Arc, or now Handsome Jaune had always been a bit _off_. Now it was confirmed, the poor boy was out of his gourd.

"Oz? What's your take on this?", Qrow asked.

"Jaune has become… a complete psychopath. Perhaps it runs in his family. He's certainly not a normal boy with dreams and ambitions. Why he ever decided to attend Beacon is beyond me, since it seems he was out to take over his father's company. Maybe it was something else…", Ozpin mused.

"What do you suggest?", Qrow questioned. He was lost once again.

"Stick to the original plan. Secure the Relics. Defeat Salem by any means. As long as we stay on Jaune's good side, he will help us. No need in causing a panic and having Jaune inevitably side with Salem… or Arden Greyblood… Or any of our opposition for whatever reasons. We need to be careful here, Qrow. We are under a full moon full of uncertainty.", Ozcar Pin mused.

"Doubtless, Oz. Kid's got an army of robots and a death ray. Best to keep him at an arm's length until we figure out his endgame. Keep your best cards close and your worst in the open…", Qrow added.

"Indeed.", Ozzy Pin concluded.

X

Pyrrha paced uneasily next to Jaune. She wasn't sure this was currently the best situation. Jaune _had_ done what he'd set out to do. And in the end, he'd made a lot of enemies. Enemies that would inevitably be coming for his blood. Sure, McDiarmid would most likely be on board with everything that had transpired. But her teammates and friends were worried. Worry would bring fear. Fear would bring the Grimm straight to their doorstep. She sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaune…", Pyrrha mused.

"Of course. And hey, now that we have some time to relax while Helios flies us back to Atlas, we can go and check out my father's Vault.", Handsome Jaune noted.

"Vault?", Pyrrha asked.

"The Vault of the Emperor. It's where my dad keeps all the cool things we made over the years. Also stuff we found and were _inspired_ from. C'mon, pumpkin! I know you want to see it!", Handsome Jaune exclaimed.

Pyrrha shrugged and just followed Handsome Jaune out of the room, Team RWBY followed behind them as well. Qrow and Ozpin glanced at the group of rowdy teenagers and followed behind them. Jaune was leading everyone somewhere and Ozpin felt that it might be important.

Jaune avoided the elevator and headed for the stairs instead; he didn't want another instance of abrupt acceleration and the sudden deceleration to injure his friends and they probably didn't want Qrow's Semblance to cause the elevator to fail entirely and end their journey in another way. Several flights of stairs later and the whole group stood outside of a large golden door with a prominent H emblazoned on it.

"Ta da! The Vault of the Emperor! Just lemme open the door…", Jaune noted as he fumbled with the locking mechanism.

A few moments later and the huge decorative portal slid out of the way and beheld the interior of the Vault itself. All of Hyperion's greatest technological boons had been set on pedestals around the massive room; the Tassiter, the original laser pistol on a center platform. The Arc-Ray, a set of dual wrist-mounted rail-guns sat on another, rivalling Ember Celica in design. A living jewel, a diamond encrusted pony jerked its head up and neighed happily at Jaune as he entered. Even farther back towards the rear of the room, a large glass window showed off the Eye of Helios and the control panel for the massive weapon. Team RWBY stared around the room in awe and wonder. The sound of static interrupted them.

"H-Hey, kiddo! You did good! You fulfilled your destiny!", the voice announced.

"Oh god… You're still alive?", Handsome Jaune lamented.

"Not really, kiddo. I just decided to upload my memories into the Hyperion Database just in case this happened. You wouldn't imagine! I even considered a body double, but those are too expensive!", the voice of Tassiter Arc announced.

"Well, you can't do much from inside the mainframe, can you?", Jaune asked.

"Not really. I can keep the constructors running and keep Hyperion on its original task, though. Obviously you have no idea how to run this company if you'd just decided to kill me.", Tassiter Arc mused.

"But… You're not him, are you?", Pyrrha asked.

"Hey, kiddo! You got yourself a real smart one! Nope, I'm just the collective memories of John 'Tassiter' Arc. I've got enough to keep you out of trouble, though. Which was more than your real dad did anyways…", the voice noted.

"So what are you? What kind of failsafe contingency plan did my dear old daddy do?", Jaune asked.

"I'm the Tassiter Arc Robotic Computerized Neural Network or TARCNN for short. I kept all of your father's ideas for him. I'm like a personal digital assistant with a little added charm. Now don't worry, I'm not mad you killed him, he was running out of ideas anyways. I'm sure you'll do just as good, and if you need help with stuff, here I am!", TARCNN noted.

"Great. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing. Keeping the HQ flying or whatever, just stay out of my way and let me do my thing.", Jaune noted.

"Of course! Just remember, kiddo. I'm not your real dad, I just sound like him.", TARCNN concluded.

"That was odd…", Blake noted.

"You're telling me! We've got a literal ghost in the machine on our hands!", Yang exclaimed.

"Ehh, not really. More like Robo-Dad. I'm sure TARCNN can cover the fact that the real Tassiter Arc is dead; he's just not seeing people and wants me to take over the company while he drinks himself to sleep in his private quarters.", Jaune mused.

"Whatever floats your boat, kiddo! I'm more than happy to handle all the PR for you. I actually did a better job than the man himself!", TARCNN added.

Handsome Jaune sighed and turned away for a moment. He noticed Oz and Qrow staring through the window in the back wall at the Eye of Helios. He walked over to them.

"Really pretty isn't it?", Jaune mused.

Jaune stared up at the crystalline structure that made up most of the "Eye", within the cycling crystals was a small object held aloft, multiple tubes supplying refined Dust were overlaid into the structure. The whole thing pulsed softly.

"Where on earth did you father acquire _that_?", Ozpin asked incredulously.

"What? The Eye? He built it. He found some old artifact out in Vacuo and brought it back here. He's been working on it ever since I was a child. Seems like it works. It can fire a beam of pure destructive energy at anything we aim at. It's the perfect weapon.", Jaune explained.

"He may have built most of the structure containing it, but _that_, in the center, is the Relic of Destruction.", Ozcar Pin pointed.

"Okay… So? It's a weapon from the gods then. If I recall what you said the Relics were. So that means we have two and only need two more. Sweet, less work for us.", Jaune laughed.

"It's a serious matter, Mr. Arc. You do not know what kind of damage you could do with that.", Ozpin chided.

"I have some ideas… Anyways, it's ours now!", Jaune noted.

"Do not use that, under any circumstances. Ever.", Ozpin pushed.

"It's my company and my weapon, Ozzy. I can do what I want with it. Do you really think you can stop me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a creepy old man trapped inside some random kid right now? A fifteen year old kid? Are you going to stand between my will, my army of robots and Pyrrha to keep me from using what's already mine to use?", Jaune said somewhat threateningly.

"I-I'm just offering some guidance. I hope you take it.", Ozpin corrected, now was not a time for an impromptu and sudden regeneration.

"That's better. Now go play in the ball pit and leave us adults to do the real work, okay?", Jaune mocked.

Qrow and Ozpin watched as Jaune walked back to his friends. They felt unusually uneasy right now. The Grimm were a threat to everyone, but Jaune was probably just as bad if not worse. Only time would tell.

X

Far away in the Kingdom of Atlas, a man walked through the streets of the Lower City of Mantle. He hummed to himself and seemed oblivious to the world around him. A coin was tossed hand to hand in apparent boredom. The coin was balanced and flicked through fingers that were adorned with seven glowing rings. The coin was suddenly held in midair before being hastily placed into the pocket of a rather fancy feathered overcoat. Piercing eyes looked at the prey that had brought their attention to those that fed on carrion.

"Hmm. How nice…", the man noted.

The impatient traveler picked up a hat, a small ornate bowler and tried it on. He cycled between his own trilby adorned with a small crown and the new hat before picking up another one and trying it on.

"Perhaps now is not the time. Many things in motion…", the man mused as he glanced to the dark skies.

"An impatient traveler senses the winds of _change_…", the man mused as he pulled the coin out again and continued on his way. A few passersby knew who he was, but said nothing. Something terrible was about to happen if the Mad King himself wandered the streets of Mantle.

X

The doors of a pub crashed open, a large man nearly seven feet tall lumbered in. He had a beard of copper and a set of small glasses perched on his nose. He wore an amalgam of different sets of armor and carried a massive morningstar. He sat down on one of the small bar stools and turned around to his team of mixmatched Huntsmen.

"Contract complete, guys! Rhames would be proud of us!", the large man announced.

"Yeah, Jonk, we get it. So much for the mansion made of smaller mansions, right? At least we got paid this time.", another Huntsman noted.

"It's not that bad, Minstrel. We had a mansion, just too bad it was made of sand…", Jonk, the first man noted.

"Awk! Team ATAK is here! Maybe we can Awk! Ask them for help.", a bird Faunus squawked, most of his face taken up by a large beak.

Another team of Huntsmen composed of four members walked in. They appeared to be dirty and tired. Their team leader an imposing woman with pure white hair and skin lead them to the table where their rivals sat.

"Hey, Alabaster! Any luck?", Jonk asked jovially.

"No.", Alabaster said sternly.

"Hey… What happened to Alfie Chan? Who's your new guy?", Minstrel noted.

"Adam Branwen, some heroic Faunus we met in Argus. Always gotta have that token Faunus card, Minstrel.", the other woman added. She had dark hair parted over one eye and an edgy haircut. Fire Dust was woven into her clothes.

"Hap! Fwep!", the shorter Huntsman added, he wore hideous purple and orange armor that concealed his entire body.

"No bickering, Kindel, Timmy.", Alabaster noted.

"Hey… Didn't Rhames say he was related to a Branwen?", Minstrel asked.

"He did! Hey, you must be one of his siblings! Welcome to the team, what are you doing here?", Jonk asked.

"I-I'm trying to protect my family. Atlas is in danger.", Adam noted.

"Yes. Danger.", Alabaster added.

"Hap! Hup, fwep! Hup Ap! Hap!", Timmy interjected.

"He says we shouldn't be too worried. Just the constant threat of Grimm. They seem more active lately…", Kindel translated.

"Ap! Hup, hap hepp hup hap hap fwep hap!", Timmy noted.

"He also wanted to answer your previous question. Alfie is with Team HNTR, they're off punching ghosts or something, I don't really know. I guess it's Team _Haunter_ instead of _Hunter, _now…", Kindel explained.

"Can you even _punch_ ghosts? Ghasts maybe… Whatever… At least they're better than Team FNHS and actually getting paid for interesting jobs!", Minstrel mused.

"So is their team name Team Faunus or Team Fun House?", Jonk asked to nobody in particular.

"Could be either, they're an all Faunus team who used to be in the circus. It's not like us, though. I don't think _Attack_ is even a color.", Kindel argued.

"Crimson. Blood.", Alabaster noted.

"Yeah, we know. You're bloodthirsty.", Kindel said as she patted Alabaster on the head.

"Colors of Attack…", Alabaster said as she glared at Kindel.

"So, you said something about Atlas in danger?", Javelin, the pigeon Faunus noted offhandedly.

"Yes. Danger. Grimm, conspiracy.", Alabster mused.

"Awk! Might need a bit more information on that…"

"As do we all. We're assuming you need more help since you're in the Huntsmen's lodge.", Jonk interjected.

"Indeed.", Alabaster added.

"The Grimm are more active up here lately. The local township is worried that there might be some kind of threat. Recently, the weapons corporation Hyperion seceded from the Kingdom and founded their own smaller kingdom outside of the kingdom. Titania, as it's known as now. General Ironwood is worried that the rest of the corporations will do the same, perhaps his worry is bringing in the Grimm?", Kindel Fyre explained.

"Maybe? He's a very powerful man. I supposed if you can strike fear into someone so indomitable, the fallout would be huge.", Jonk mused.

"Question, real quick. Adam Branwen looks an awful lot like Adam Taurus. How exactly did you meet him in Argus?", Minstrel asked, noticing a worrying glance from Adam.

"Hap, hup fwep hup hup hap hep hap fwep!", Timmy Rim explained.

"I just took a Huntsmen's contract. 'Brave and Heroic Faunus needed in Atlas, see Kindel Fyre for more information'. I knew my family was on their way here, I just didn't think I'd be this involved in… whatever it is that's happening here.", Adam translated.

"I'm not even sure he's a Faunus. He has stubbins where some horns used to be, but for all we know Timmy is also a Faunus. We actually still don't know what Timmy is; a robot, an alien, he never takes off his armor.", Kindel added.

"Tah happity fwep!", Timmy added.

"I don't even know what that means.", Kindel argued.

"Wait, how come you're the only one that understands him?", Team MRJJ asked.

"His family used to work for my family. It's a very rare Vacuo dialect hailing from the Noble House of Kiebler. They're bakers.", Kindel explained. "They all wear armor like that, and never take it off. I didn't question it, you need protection like that in Vacuo."

"Vacuo to Atlas, what a trip, right? We're all from down there and now we're up here in the snow.", Minstrel mused.

"Not everyone, I'm from Menagerie and if I recall correctly, Alabaster is originally from Mistral and Javelin is from Vale. I did a little research on my teammates. Better safe than sorry.", Adam noted.

"Correct.", Alabaster mused.

"So… Mistral, huh?", Minstrel noted.

"I'll do the explanation, since Alabaster doesn't talk much: Alabaster is some kind of assassin, she had some life sentence at like, age 15 for killing some noble and was sent to Vacuo, enrolled at Shade and then became our team leader. She still takes some _questionable_ contracts now and again, but she's never gone for long. Her Semblance is… I don't really know how to explain it, but she can just make people not see her. Like invisibility, but not, you just don't really see her in a room. She does it all the time when we're camping. Also, I'm fairly sure Alabaster doesn't even know much of our language, she understands Mistralian perfectly and speaks it, but doesn't utter a word otherwise.", Kindel, the exposition queen explained.

"Correct. Again."

"So what's your Semblance?", Jonk asked.

"You know that prissy Heiress, Weiss Schnee? Like that only with fire.", Kindel explained.

"Oh. So that's your team, then right?", Jonk mused.

"Hap hup!", Timmy added.

"Oh, you forgot about Timmy. Timmy is the Technomancer, he can control machines and electronics. It does come in handy here in Atlas where all the guards are robots.", Kindel added.

"Okay, nice. What's your game plan?", Jonk asked.

"We investigate the city walls first, look for any signs of a breach. Then, we go and talk to the Ace Ops, Ironwood's personal guard. Whenever Helios or Titania makes it back, we can go and talk to Tassiter Arc and get his story.", Kindel explained.

"Sounds good. Let us know when you're ready to depart. We need the extra work.", Jonk concluded.

Team MRJJ and ATAK sat down to plan their next move. For some reason, Atlas was uneasy and there wasn't a clear reason why. The two team leaders weren't sure that Hyperion was the cause of such panic since they both knew a certain blond-haired gunslinger was involved with the company. Only time would tell.

X

Far down along the docks, Ace Operative Vine was scouring the seabed close to the pier. He'd received a distress beacon from one of their rivals, the Atlesian Special Agents. Particularly, one of General Ironwood's most trusted, Agent Carolina. One of his long noodley arms brushed against what felt like a leg and he pulled upwards instinctively. A coughing and spluttering and rather disheveled Agent Carolina was retrieved from the swirling depths. Vine quickly radioed his teammates before beginning to check over the missing Agent's injuries.

"Get Ironwood, don't worry about me. My suit has impact protection and life support. Tassiter Arc is dead, his son is a psychopath and he's on his way here now. Full alert!", Carolina wheezed.

Vine didn't argue with another high ranking operative and instantly opened his communicator. He scrolled down to a small red button and pressed it. Immediately, all of the city-wide sirens began to blare. As the rest of the Ace Ops arrived on scene, the holographic image of Ironwood appeared on Vine's Scroll. He only had a few words to say regarding the sudden alarm.

"Full alert. Carolina has been found. Arc and Hyperion have betrayed us."

* * *

**Chapter End. I know some of the recent reviews reflect the earlier chapters and how rushed they are. Remember, this started as something for my SO to read while she was at work. We both know the plotline of RWBY and its assumed you at least have some common knowledge about it as well, otherwise why are you here? It is a Crack-Fic and most of the early installment weirdness is because it was supposed to be a One-Shot. It was never supposed to have any chapters at all, ever. **

**I think after say, Chapter 14 or so, my SO told me to upload it online so others could enjoy it. I did some basic editing to make it fit on and inserted some page breaks with actual chapters and titles and stuff. The old chapters aren't changing, and I'm not re-writing them. Maybe someday, I'll upload the original 75k word One-Shot so you can see it in all of its horrible glory. It's worse. It's so much worse. Number 4, step forward and say 'Worse'. "Worse".**


	39. The Latest Kingdom

XXXXX

Chapter 37: The Latest Kingdom

XXXXX

General Ironwood paced around his office. Sirens blared loudly throughout both Mantle and Atlas. He paused for a moment and considered shutting them off; it would've been a simple task. Unfortunately, the sirens once activated, required a codeword and some kind of explanation and using the phrase 'testing' was out of the question. Ironwood had used the excuse way too many times already. He sighed and removed his hand from his already full-force facepalm.

"Vine, this isn't a cause for betrayal. Hyperion is now its own separate entity from the Kingdom of Atlas. What exactly has transpired in the last 45 minutes that now Arc has betrayed us? I don't see a death beam of sorts hitting the city. I can physically _see_ Helios from my office and it's just slowly lumbering back to its dock in the Hyperion-owned village of Opportunity.", Ironwood rambled.

"Tassiter Arc has been murdered by his own son, Jaune Arc. Agent Carolina mentioned that she was forcibly ejected from the CEO's office. I believe that counts as some kind of law violation. Arc has assaulted a Military Commander.", Vine explained over the sounds of blaring sirens.

Ironwood sighed again, it had been less than an hour and Titania had already been overthrown. Tassiter Arc's passing was actually somewhat sad, however even Ozpin had mentioned several months ago that younger Jaune Arc had seemed a bit _off_. Perhaps trusting the wayward son was a bad idea, let alone teaching him how to fight properly. Jaune Arc would've been perfectly fine acting as Hyperion's spokesperson, yet Tassiter Arc had sent him off to become a 'real huntsman' against better judgement.

"Well, that's something that Jaune Arc will have to explain. However, since it's a new government perhaps we should review their laws so we don't make the same mistakes again. Agent Carolina may have overstayed her visit and that would count against her."

"It's entirely possible, General. Agent Carolina requested full-alert status. She believes that Arc is going to betray us and most likely destroy the city.", Vine argued.

"I have my doubts, Vine. Tassiter Arc was reluctant to even speak to us about his secession and did so with force. Perhaps Jaune Arc will be more willing to speak to us regarding the future of both Titania and Hyperion. "

"I have my doubts as well, General. Carolina noted that Jaune Arc is a complete psychopath. He's demanded calling himself 'Handsome Jaune' and wears a mask of some sort in the exact image of his own face. He has also brought one of the Maidens with him."

Ironwood sighed again even harder, as if his soul was leaving his body in the attempt to comprehend what was going on right now. Okay, facts: Tassiter Arc is dead, not great not terrible; Jaune Arc could be reasoned with. Jaune Arc brought a Maiden, great actually; Atlas could use more power. Jaune Arc wears a mask of his own face; strange, but he's seen stranger things. Jaune Arc wishes to be called 'Handsome' Jaune; bizarre, but Hyperion's always had odd names for everything; maybe it's a title of some sort. Ironwood mentally attempted to cheer himself up by imagining who must've had the title of 'Ugly'. He thought of Qrow… 'Ugly Qrow'.

"Codeword: Blueberry Poptarts? Really? Someone made the codeword _that_? Who the hell wrote this? Anyways, lower the Alert status to mid level and silence the sirens. Jaune Arc has always been a bit… _off_. Welcome him to Atlas as usual and pay no attention to his odd title. Jaune Arc is bound to be more willing to work _with_ Atlas rather than against it.", Ironwood noted.

Vine silenced the alarms. The constant blaring in the background faded as Ironwood's office sank into silence. He could finally sit down and get some work done. Jaune Arc the new CEO of Hyperion, Ironwood had imagined it, just not quite like this. Jaune Arc the psychopath, Ironwood knew about this, yet everyone had their quirks. He thought of Vine for a moment and briefly reconsidered the use of a man with wacky flailing arms, he too had made some odd choices. Ozpin had always been the oddball, though. Even without Ozpin at the reigns over Beacon and Vale, the whole city had gotten into some kind of civil war with the Plumber's Union and the Constructor's Legion, had an invasion of _Grimm Frogs_, and then poor Oobleck had been molested by Grimm that were apparently mating. The only recent upside to that was that Glynda Goodwitch had apparently been found alive _inside_ the wrecked tower of Beacon Academy and only due to Ozpin accidentally ordering over four thousand cans of beans.

Ironwood sighed, why couldn't Atlas be as wacky and weird as Vale? It was just military stuff and corporate wars and attempted coups and the council elections. It was boring adult stuff that people had warned him about since he was a child. 'No, James, don't join the military! Go become a Huntsmen and do whatever you want! Become a freelancer and see the world! Settle down with your girlfriend and have lots of kids and get a day job in one of the corporations!'. Ironwood briefly considered the life that would never be, himself and Glynda, elderly and surrounded by grandchildren in a cozy cottage far outside of Atlas. Ozpin would be there embellishing every story. It was too nice.

Ironwood simply turned back to his computer and got ready to begin his work for the day, he opened up his unread messages and recoiled as his entire inbox exploded. Schnee Dust and Merlot Industries were on the top of the list, asking about urgent issues in the Kingdom. Trevali Arms was three down from them, requesting their company back from absorption into the Atlas Military. LunaCross Munitions was down a little further from them asking the same thing. The Council of Atlas was requesting usage of the Amity Arena for something called 'Grifball'. He had no less than seven e-mails from the Violet Crown for some reason. His subscription to ScrollFlix was about to run out. Leonardo Lionheart was asking for assistance with the recent attack on the gourmet pancake factory in Haven. The team of Huntsmen he'd sent to Mistral had returned and each of the four members had sent him several e-mails regarding their task. The Council elections were coming up. There were a total of three hundred and sixty three unread messages. Ironwood groaned loud enough for his guards outside the door to hear, this was going to be a very long day.

X

Far below, down in the slums of Mantle, an airship finally landed and an exasperated pilot began to make his way out of the vessel. He'd had enough fun for one day; taking a bunch of unruly teenagers to Atlas, getting sidetracked by Helios and Hyperion, getting out of Helios and Hyperion and then getting sidetracked again to pick up some more Huntsmen back in Argus and then super-fast flight directly to the lower city and the sweet Atlesian bourbon that awaited him. Augustus Boye was utterly and absolutely done with piloting for the weekend. Soft snoring pulled his attention for a moment.

"Hello? Anyone there?", Boye asked. There was no response.

Upon further examination, he'd noticed that the elderly woman who had accompanied the unruly teenagers had fallen asleep in the cargo hold and had gone largely unnoticed. She had an empty tin of cookies loosely gripped in her arms.

"Come on, granny! It's time to get off the plane!"

"Whuh? Oh! Hello, there young man. Are we in Atlas already? You know I had an old friend down in Mantle, he was such a dashing young man. And he was so skilled with his hands. He also had a great big tool that he used all the time. It was great. He used to do some tune-ups on my eyes. I can't remember what his name was… Oh, what were we talking about again? Oh right, Pietro! He was the…", Maria trailed off.

Augustus Boye had gone from one ridiculous task to another. He sighed heavily as he took little old Maria's hand and carefully led her off of the airship. He'd go and find her 'old flame' given he was still alive and leave her there. She'd be in better hands with him instead of that psychopath and his harem. Perhaps afterwards, when he was done protecting the elderly, he'd finally get some of that sweet Atlesian bourbon and some rest. It could've been worse, really.

X

Earlier as sirens blared throughout the city, Team MRJJ and Team ATAK sprang into action. Alarms only meant that the worst had come, Grimm were going to attack. The city would fall. Or, as Alabaster had mentioned, a conspiracy. Had Helios returned to its dock and let loose an army of robots? They didn't know. All eight of them burst out of the Huntsmen's Lodge's front doors and into the street with their weapons ready.

"Timmy! Cue the music!", Kindel ordered.

In an instant, Timmy Rim pulled out a small boombox and activated it. Loud and obnoxious rock music began to overpower the sirens. Timmy took the boombox and attached it to the top of his helmet before taking a stance next to his teammates.

"Hap!", Timmy roared.

Over their heads, Helios hovered over the city. It was very close and they could see the mass of glowing gravity dust propelling it. It was still too far away to jump to, even if they had a running start off of a building.

"Helios! In the sky! Hyperion is back!", Kindel announced.

"We can see that. Where's it going?", Jonk asked.

"Opportunity! Hyperion owns a small town nearby. We can intercept them there!", Kindel yelled over the sirens and loud guitar solo.

"Monster. Get.", Alabaster noted.

"Monster? What the hell?", Minstrel exclaimed and he whirled around looking for the signs of Grimm. There weren't any. Just a bunch of civilians running around. Occasionally there was an odd spear of green energy in the distance.

"It's our truck! It's outside the Kingdom near the western gate. We need to get to that and then we'll drive to Opportunity. It'll be faster than walking!", Kindel explained.

Within a few moments, Team MRJJ was seated rather uncomfortably in the rear of the Monster, Timmy Rim's aforementioned monster-truck. It was hideously painted orange and purple and had huge wheels for running over people and Grimm alike. Its massive nine liter engine roared to life before it propelled the oddball Huntsmen over the tundras and towards Opportunity, the gleaming silver city in the mountains close to the flying city of Atlas itself. Team MRJJ felt uneasy.

"Rhames is on that giant thing. Helios or whatever it's called. Jaune Arc is one of his friends. If ATAK … attacks Rhames or his family, we'll be dead in minutes.", Jonk argued.

"You're right. But Rhames isn't that strong of a guy. We outnumber them pretty solidly.", Minstrel mused.

"Awk! That's not the point. What about… Arden?", Javelin noted.

"Oh shit! You're right! Let's just see if we can convince Alabaster to talk to them instead of attacking first. We don't even know if they're behind the panic. It could just be a coincidence.", Minstrel realized.

"I heard you back there, Minstrel. That's what we're doing. Talking like civilized adults. We're not fighting that thing. Apparently it has some kind of death cannon onboard and the last thing we need is to be vaporized by it. Or piss off Hyperion. Or… piss off Arden Greyblood.", Kindel interjected.

"Hap hup!", Timmy noted.

The Monster continued to bounce over the frozen wastes outside of Mantle. Opportunity was large and they could see the giant gaudy H-shaped structure beginning to dock with the city. A large spire reached upwards and appeared to tether the whole thing in place. Both teams prepared themselves for combat anyways. If they'd only turned down their music, they would've heard the sirens stop blaring and the explanation General Ironwood had broadcasted. Epic guitar solos were hard to ignore, though.

X

Back in Atlas, General Ironwood stood up to his city-wide broadcasting station. He struck a heroic pose and began to speak.

"Citizens of Mantle beneath the greatest Kingdom of Atlas. Thank you for enduring our testing of our new city-wide alarm system. It is designed to alert us if anything large encroaches on our borders. The new City-State of Titania has just proved that our system works. This was only a test. Thank you for adhering to the regulated safety protocols that we have practiced these long few months."

Ironwood shut off the broadcaster and slumped into the chair behind his desk. That was some kind of explanation. He's have to reprimand his 'Ace' Operatives whenever they got back to Atlas. He'd had to send a lot of ridiculous e-mails to his 'grateful' corporations.

First, Schnee Dust had requested the same treatment as Hyperion had, being declared its own city-state. They had wanted to sell dust freely to any and all kingdoms without having to deal with getting a 'Trade License', a license that allowed them to bypass Atlas' blockade. Ironwood had politely stated that all Dust mines were property of Atlas itself and that he could seize them by eminent domain at any time. Schnee Dust, and particularly their new heir, Whitley Schnee seemed unhappy about this.

The next issue was with Merlot Industries. Like Hyperion, Merlot was a massive weapons company. They held a patent on disposable guns for citizens. Easy to use and easier to buy. You got a gun and a ring, the ring would call the gun back to you if you dropped it. The gun also doubled as a small defense grenade and could be thrown, exploding on impact. A new gun would be credited to your account for a small fee and then the new one would simply fabricate through the ring's micro-printer. Merlot Industries guns were horrible to use, had awful sights, and could barely hit the broadside of a barn. Everyone who could afford them, bought them. They were the most popular gun in all of Mantle despite the risk of the gun just randomly exploding in your hands. Like Hyperion, Merlot had demanded to become its own city-state as well. Merlot had even threatened Ironwood himself and claimed to be working on a similar 'death ray'. Ironwood simply told Merlot to go and kick rocks, he never held his word and usually just ran his mouth a lot. Inevitably, if Merlot actually created an 'Eye of Merlot', it would just explode and take care of Merlot Industries and all Atlas' problems.

The third message was from Trevali Arms, an old and defunct company that had big dreams, but no money to use to build those dreams. Their last failure, a flying car, had done damage to the Schnee Manor and Atlas Academy when it was blatantly obvious that cars aren't meant to fly. They simply wanted to operate as a company again and begin manufacturing Trevali Arms Nanofiber Mesh armor again. Apparently, a particular cereal mascot had survived the Fall of Beacon due to their old armor alone. Ironwood considered this and approved it. The older Trevali Arms armor and swords were unusually reliable even now. He still had his great grandfather's old Trevali Arms 9mm pistol from the Great War; it still shot true and even worked underwater.

The fourth message was similar to the last one, LunaCross Munitions, formerly LunaCross Arms also wanted to operate separate from Atlas again. Their guns were old-school cool, used black powder or regular raw dust, and were very powerful albeit slow to reload. A rumor that the new CEO of Hyperion used one of their flagship guns from the last hundred years had piqued their interest in returning to the market. Ironwood was aware of the _Unforgiven_, but didn't think that any of them still existed, they had been created in the early ages of the Kingdom of Atlas using a certain _relic_. They had strange properties and all had seemingly been lost to the passage of time. Ironwood knew the he couldn't use the _relic_ for that purpose anymore, but he would allow LunaCross to resume building their trademark guns.

The last few messages Ironwood had responded to were of less importance. The council would be allowed to hold a 'Grifball' tournament in the Amity Arena as soon as he was properly informed what the rules of the game were. It sounded dangerous, but not as bad as the Vytal Festival and the people needed some kind of entertainment right now.

The Violet Crown had sent several incredibly cryptic messages that Ironwood didn't know how to respond to, he skimmed a few of the messages. 'Beware the unkindness that follows the blind, for the blind prey upon those who feed on carrion.', one of them said. 'An impatient traveler looks to the skies for winds of change, for the birds can sense its annoyance.', another one noted. 'A man of steel shall lose his heart and his mind shall rust away.', one more mentioned. 'Those who look for the darkness shall only see the mouth of the beast before it swallows them whole.', the most recent one read. Ironwood tried to put words to paper and send a message back, but was at a loss for words. He was aware of who the 'king' of the unofficial fifth kingdom was, but honestly didn't know if it was just pure insanity or something else. The few messages seemed to stick with him.

Ironwood renewd his ScrollFlix account and then went onto replying to Leonardo Lionheart's request for aid. He'd send a few dozen of his best students from the Academy and be done with it. Why Leo was even asking for assistance regarding a bakery theft was simply ridiculous.

The council elections were coming up. Ironwood briefly skimmed the list of possible candidates. Robyn Hill and her merry Faunus, Emilion Merlot of Merlot Industries, Jacques Schnee of Schnee Dust Corporation, Jackson Trevali of Trevali Arms, David Kammecamp of LunaCross Munitions, Neptune Vasilias, and… Arden Greyblood, King of the Violet Crown. Ironwood staggered a bit after reading the final name. Why on Remnant would Arden Greyblood want to be on a City-Council of a Kingdom he's not even a part of? Ironwood pondered for a few moments and then began to carefully reread all of the messages from the Violet Crown.

"Beware the unkindness that follows the blind, for the blind prey upon those who feed on carrion.", the message read. Ironwood was lost.

"An impatient traveler looks to the skies for the winds of change, for the birds can sense its annoyance.", the next one read. Ironwood had a tickle in the back of his mind, but couldn't place it.

"Take caution of children who act like men, for the souls of both are twisted.", a new message stated. Ironwood must've skipped this one, something felt very wrong all of a sudden.

"Play your cards close to heart. The lucky follow the unlucky and they are first to drown in blood.", the next message read. Ironwood felt the need to call the Ace Ops for some reason.

"Capture or kill, those who feed on carrion care not for your morals. They shall feed for a fortnight.", another new message read. Ironwood felt very uneasy.

"A man of steel shall lose his heart and his mind shall rust away.", the message mused. Ironwood felt like this was some kind of personal attack, but it was too cryptic to place any blame. He'd just look like a raving lunatic if he told anyone.

"Those who look for the darkness shall only the see the mouth of the beast before it swallows them whole.", the final message read.

Ironwood racked his brain trying to think of the reasoning behind the messages. It made little sense, but… Something was true. A plan had formed in his mind a few months ago. Renovate the Amity Arena, tell the world about Salem. A horrible and bad idea, it would cause a mass panic and Ozpin would've never done anything like that. It was hidden in the depths of pure madness, but somehow the 'Mad King' was making sense. If he continued, things would end badly. The messages were veiled, but Ironwood read between the lines and realized that something very bad was about to happen. He needed to rethink his motivations and _try_ to prevent whatever it was from happening. His attention was pulled by a subtle tapping outside his office window. He turned and saw a jet black vulture picking away at the carcass of some rodent. Its eyes locked with his own before the bird of prey flew off into the city.

Ironwood sighed. Vultures? Wait, vultures aren't native to Atlas! He shuddered, an _omen. _A very ill omen at that one. He frantically called up the Ace Operatives, breathing heavily to calm himself. They didn't need to hear his worry.

"Ace Operatives. This is General Ironwood. I'm ordering you to request aid from the Huntsmen that just arrived on board Helios, in the City-State of Titania. Please also summon the Huntsmen of Team Vermillion that have recently returned from Mistral. I am requesting a personal audience with them immediately.", Ironwood concluded.

On the other end of the line, Clover, Vine and the rest of the Ace Operatives shrugged and headed off in the direction of Helios. The large H-shaped flying structure was now firmly docked with the lower city of Mantle and Opportunity. The Ace Operatives had already been told earlier to welcome Jaune Arc to Atlas and carried several armfuls of gift baskets and welcome cards. They'd be giving the new and possibly insane ruler of Titania the warmest welcome that the frozen throne of Atlas could give. Marrow's tail wagged happily as he toted the bag of party hats and streamers behind his comrades.

* * *

**Chapter End. The Latest Kingdom. A bit more setup, but now we're into the mainstay of Volume 7. I put tons of little throwbacks to older chapters in this one. I also forgot about Maria Calavera again.**

**Also, Borderlands expies: LunaCross Munitions is Jakobs. Merlot is Tediore. Trevali is like Borderlands' Atlas weapons. No Jaune or Pyrrha this chapter, the fun awaits the next one. **


	40. The Bravest Kingdom

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Chapter 38: The Bravest Kingdom

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The lower city of Mantle spread out beneath the massive hovering H-Shaped corporate headquarters. A sea of dimly lit orange lights among an urban jungle of greyish colored boxes. The view from Helios was actually somewhat melancholy. Mantle was dark and dimly lit, smoke and smog emanated from the various heating elements that kept the poorer neighborhood warm and livable in the arctic regions this far north. In the skies above, the shining city, adorned in silver and white, Atlas stood out. It shined like a beacon of hope and broadly stood as the true power in the northern realms. Something was going on. General Ironwood had deployed numerous battleships and multiple airships to surround Atlas itself, the large Atlas Academy and military base prominently in the center of all of it.

"Whoa... We're in Atlas!", Ruby exclaimed, taking in all the sights. She was amazed at the sight of the flying bastion of hope.

"Look, but don't touch. Atlas is a military-focused dictatorship. It looks pretty from here, but inside it's nothing but a vodka-scented hellhole.", Weiss noted. Ruby seemed to slouch slightly.

"Mantle is where all of the impoverished live. After the war, the people needed some kind of hope. Atlas was supposed to provide that. Maybe they did, but the majority of the working class lives down there; beneath a steel sky.", Blake mused.

"Why are there so many airships?", Ren asked to nobody in particular.

"There's some kind of embargo, kiddo. Atlas has Jacques' balls in a vice and is preventing any of Schnee Dust's Dust out of the kingdom. He put a ban on the sale of firearms outside of the kingdom and has yet to assist Leonardo Lionheart with the attack on the gourmet pancake factory back in Haven.", Handsome Jaune stated, he'd gone over some of the finer details of Atlas' politics with TARCNN earlier; best to know what he was up against.

"Right. We've finally made it to Atlas. First thing we should do is go and find James- General Ironwood. McDiarmid and his rag-tag bunch of misfits told us back in Haven to get here and find him. Second, we need to make sure the Relic is safe and sound and secure it in any way we can.", Qrow announced.

"I think we should be more concerned with why there are city-wide sirens blaring right now. Perhaps there's an attack?", Ozcar noted, he'd heard the sirens as soon as Helios had begun to descend towards its docking station in the Hyperion-owned town of Opportunity.

"It's nothing to worry about. It's probably just a proximity alarm. Helios is massive.", Jaune nonchalantly disregarded.

"Hm. If you say so. Considering your recent actions, I'd prepare for combat.", Ozcar noted.

Handsome Jaune shrugged. Alarms and stuff and whatever. It didn't really matter to him one way or another. He had the Eye of Helios and a Maiden. Atlas had a silly flying city and a bunch of Ace-Holes that thought they were big shit. Ozpin was being Ozpin again. He gave up listening to his friends and colleagues bicker and take in the sights and began to initiate the landing procedure for Helios. The flying-H had finally reached its destination, slowly but surely, and was ready to land for refueling. He pressed a few buttons on the control pad next to him and started to dock. Today was going to be an interesting day.

X

The Ace-Ops jumped from rooftop to rooftop, taking pride in their synchrony and using each-other's abilities to swiftly approach Opportunity, the Hyperion-owned town. Vine briefly saw some kind of hideous purple and orange truck approaching from the western side of town, but ignored it. It was probably just some kind of ridiculous delivery. The operatives had been warned that Jaune Arc was a bit peculiar and could be considered a bit 'off' at times. Despite what Agent Carolina had told them, General Ironwood himself had assured them that Jaune Arc was a normal, albeit odd, person.

Harriet dodged gracefully through the gates of Opportunity, a large land bridge of shining metal preceded the shining city. Opportunity had been built in Atlas' image, but with a more modern style. Multiple silver-colored buildings with angular geometric shapes dotted the frozen tundra. The entire city was using refined Dust, or Eridium as Hyperion had called it, as a fuel source for their heating. Tassiter Arc had refused to allow Atlas to use any of their refined Dust based technology until their freedom had been allowed; it had set the entire kingdom back several decades with the absence of new technology. There were many uses for what Hyperion had created.

Elm jumped around a large Hyperion Constructor, it was placing a new statue in the courtyard of Opportunity. This statue depicted the athlete Pyrrha Nikos obtaining the power of a Maiden, shining silver flames emanating off of her brow as she stood in a power-stance. Another statue showed Jaune Arc himself holding a nondescript Relic and a baby. One more beyond that statue showed Jaune Arc holding up a book in one hand and the Four Maidens in his other.

Marrow and Clover rounded the corner into the central courtyard to behold statues of both Jaune Arc and the presumed-dead Pyrrha Nikos locked into combat against multiple Grimm. The looked heroic in their frozen forms and exuded magnificence that couldn't be matched by any civilians. Jaune Arc had gone out of his way to paint a particular portrait and it showed.

High above the Ace-Ops, Helios began its docking procedure with Opportunity. The massive H-shaped structure came to a halt and turned, the front side of the building facing the city of Atlas, no doubt due to the new weapon they had demonstrated a few weeks ago. Better safe than sorry. The docking pad sent up multiple tethers and hoses, presumably to allow the station to refuel and anchor itself to the ground. A few moments later, all was still. Helios was docked and the Ace-Ops were ready to enter the docking station itself. The four of them looked at each-other and proceeded into the station, they readied their weapons just in case Agent Carolina was correct.

X

Inside Helios, Handsome Jaune and his teammates and friends had headed downstairs into the Hall of Heroism, the official lobby and main hall of the massive structure. The Hall of Heroism depicted various tapestries embroidered with scenes from Hyperion's history. All of the tapestries once showed Tassiter Arc, but now they were redesigned with Jaune's image instead. They painted the blond-haired gunslinger as a hero alongside Pyrrha Nikos, a few vague shapes in the background of each image represented the others.

Jaune had been busy as it seemed. While everyone else was either exploring the Vault of the Emperor or taking in the sights of Atlas, he was busy instructing TARCNN to redecorate the entire corporation and erase his own father from the records. The largely circular hall was now primarily gold and crimson, instead of bronze and brown and a large statue of Jaune and Pyrrha stood in the center, the two Huntsmen standing back to back in a combat pose. A smaller desk nearby had a single 'clapper' robot behind it acting as a receptionist.

"Hellooooo travelers! Oh, Mr. Arc, you have some visitors outside of the front door. Shall I let them in?", the tiny square robot announced.

"Yeah sure. Go ahead... Prep defenses while you're at it.", Jaune commanded.

Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPR turned towards Jaune. Was he expecting some kind of trouble? The red-haired spartan wanted to ask the receptionist-robot what was outside, but kept silent for now. She just turned towards her teammates and friends on Team RWBY and gave them a slight nod; be ready for anything, but don't do anything stupid.

X

The Ace Ops stood ready and at attention. They had finally walked up the 37 flights of stairs to the entrance of the main hall of Helios. Apparently, the elevator was out of order for 'brake failure' or something. One of the small square Hyperion robots had explained that they _could_ still use the elevator, but once the elevator stopped, they wouldn't. Helios had rocket-propelled elevators designed by Merlot Industries that were prone to failure like this. Clover valued not being smashed into the ceiling at terminal velocity and had decided to simply use the stairs instead, such luxuries such as elevators, escalators and bidets were meant for the ignorant.

Upon finally reaching the entrance to the so-called Hall of Heroism, the Ace Ops were presented with a massive door with an 'H' emblazoned onto it. A small doorbell button sat to the right of the overly decorative door depicting, once again, Handsome Jaune in some kind of victory pose. Marrow excitedly ran up and pressed the button.

"Ding! Heya, Kiddos! Handsome Jaune here, welcome to Helios!", the door buzzer announced.

"Ooh! I wonder what else it says!", Marrow exclaimed and hit the button again.

"Did you know that your chances of being disemboweled horribly by Grimm increases almost eight-thousand percent outside of Titania? It's a scientific fact! Trust Hyperion and trust Handsome Jaune!", the door buzzer stated.

Marrow pressed the button again, hoping for another fun-fact from Hyperion.

"Do you know what your mommy and daddy paid to live in Opportunity? Nothing! You're all being paid to live here by Handsome Jaune! Remember to thank General Ironwood for this chance at freedom, but don't forget you're all here due to me, Handsome Jaune!", the door buzzer stated again.

Marrow went to press the button again, but his hand was slapped away by Harriet, who had grown tired of the Hyperion-Doorbell Propaganda. Handsome Jaune had some deep seated issues that everyone was now aware of. General Ironwood was correct when he mentioned that Jaune Arc was a bit 'off'.

Elm broke the awkward silence. "Well, we're here. Better be ready for anything! Get your gifts ready and let's give Jaune Arc and his friends a warm welcome to Atlas!"

X

Meanwhile... Back in the Atlas Academy... General Ironwood paced around his office. Team VRML had been retrieved from the pub in Mantle where they had been staying and enjoying the time off. Undoubtedly, they had expected Ironwood to contact them, they just didn't know when. So, in the meantime they had decided to get drunk and reminisce about the times of yore. As it was right now, the entire team stood at attention, or as much attention as they could give, in Ironwood's office.

"You have some things to report, Team VRML. I'd like to hear what you've discovered.", Ironwood stated.

"Indeed. The Relic from Haven is safe, as safe as it's ever going to be, Qrow has that covered. Pyrrha Nikos lives, as far as we can tell, since she was just standing around next to Jaune Arc... She is also a Maiden, so that's one less we need to try and find... Everything is going according to your plan.", Clarkson McDiarmid reassured.

"I'm not certain anymore. There has been a change in plans, as of late. Perhaps the world shouldn't know what we're up against just yet..."

"Really? I thought we were trying to secure the Relics, make sure the Maidens are on our side of things and prepare to tell the world about the 'White Witch'. We have found two of the Maidens and know of the locations of all of the Relics. Why not tell the people what we're up against? You told us and we're more than for this."

"No. A... A little birdie told me... 'Those who feed on carrion, shall feast for a fortnight' if we continue down the path I've made. I know it sounds like insanity, but... I have my reasons for changing our plans...", Ironwood stuttered. He knew who he was addressing, and he'd known those people for many long years, but tensions were so high and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"Cryptic as usual, Clarkson... We did what we were supposed to do. We found Qrow and located the Maiden and Relic...", Risha complained.

"I know it may be cryptic. You have to trust my judgment here. Things are in motion beyond our control. I need to know what Jaune Arc and his companions know before we continue. They were the first onsite as far as the attack on Haven goes. They even managed to defend Argus from the threat of Grimm invaders.", Ironwood noted.

"I'm fairly certain Arc and friends know what's going on. They know of the Maidens and Relics. No doubt they are aware of the 'White Witch' as well...", McDiarmid assured.

"They may know... I'm not sure of their motives, however. Agent Carolina tells me that Jaune Arc is a deranged psychopath. Winter Schnee tells me that Qrow is a stumbling drunkard with no short-term memory. We need to be absolutely sure of what their motives are and if they plan on betraying us. We must speak to Arc's teammates.", Ironwood pondered. He wasn't wrong.

"Pfft. Fine, James, ask their friends. You'll just be meeting a bunch of rowdy teenagers who won't know what to say to you given your place of power here. They'll say anything to cover their asses when it's their heads on the chopping block!", Liana goaded. She wasn't wrong either. Team RWBY wasn't even sure whose side they were on right now. There were too many sides to consider at the moment.

"Hmm. Valkyrie, do you have anything to add?", Ironwood asked.

"No sir. I'm afraid the proverbial 'excrement has hit the rotor'.", Tonar Valkyrie stated.

"I'm not sure it's that bad yet. Keep being my eyes and ears for now. You're all Black-Ops agents starting immediately. Deep cover, more than the Ace Ops now. Do what you feel is right and report back to me.", Ironwood stated.

Team VRML stared at each-other before walking out of Ironwood's office. James Ironwood seemed overly stressed out about something going on. Something was going on and nobody could place it. The phrase he'd used to describe the situation though, was one used by the 'Mad King', and all of Team VRML knew who that was and what would eventually follow if he was right.

X

Back in Helios, the massive H-shaped door opened allowing both Team RWBYJNPRROQ and the Ace-Ops to meet. Handsome Jaune stood ready and hopeful for their meeting; Clover Ebi was the first to take a foot forwards.

"Welcome to the Greatest Kingdom, the Kingdom of Atlas. We are the Ace Ops and we warmly welcome you to our great kingdom. I am Clover Ebi, the leader of the Ace Ops."

"Nice to meet you in person. I've heard so much about you...", Jaune mused.

"Of course, we bring gifts and wish that you will contribute to the Kingdom in many ways..."

Jaune turned to his teammates for a moment, he was right again. The Ace Ops had brought gift baskets and party hats for the momentous moment of welcoming. Qrow and Ozcar just stood silently in disbelief.

"Of course, why wouldn't we? We're the newly crowned Kingdom of Titania within the greater Kingdom of Atlas. I can guarantee you, that Hyperion and Titania will be providing the highest levels of support for our fatherland.", Jaune stated. The Ace-Ops seemed to relax for a moment.

"As it should be. Let me introduce my team: Over here is Marrow Amin; a Faunus and another trusted associate of mine. He's new to the Ace-Ops, but is highly skilled where it counts.", Clover introduced. Marrow waved to the younger group.

"Next up is Elm Ederne, our heavy support. Don't be afraid of her stature, she has a heart of gold. The shorter one next to her is Harriet Bree, she's the fastest fighter of our team. I'm sure you've already met Vine Zeki, he's our specialist. Unlike yourselves, we didn't go to the academy together; we were handpicked from the elite by General Ironwood himself. The best of the best...", Clover continued.

"Great to meet all of you. I'm sure we don't need any introductions, though. You've already got my file and know of all of my teammates and friends from their transcripts. I'm glad we're going to be working together, Clover.", Handsome Jaune noted. He wasn't wrong, the Ace-Ops and General Ironwood were already aware of who Jaune had come along with.

"Well then, since introductions are taken care of, perhaps you'd accompany us to see the General himself. He has requested a personal audience with you.", Clover announced. Jaune and friends didn't hesitate, they needed to speak with the General and this was their chance to do exactly that. An expressway to see the head of state.

Soon, the two teams of Titania Huntsmen and Ace-Ops departed from Helios. They had called upon one of the official Atlas transport ships and had climbed aboard. General Ironwood awaited them. From the viewports on the airship, both teams could see a few other Huntsmen far down below getting out of a hideous purple and orange monster-truck. Jaune couldn't see who they were, but it wasn't like it mattered much. They were one step closer to the end of their mission. If anything ever threatened either Atlas of Titania, then Jaune knew exactly what to use.

* * *

**Chapter End. Handsome Jaune meets the Ace-Ops. More to come.**


	41. A New Reproach

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Chapter 39: A New Reproach

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Opportunity, the city of dreams, the city that Hyperion owned and the city that Hyperion had brainwashed laid out in front of Team ATAK. They had arrived in the city center after driving for multiple miles away from Mantle and breaking through an outer defense wall. It had been a bumpy and uneventful ride. Adam Branwen called the rest of the team's attention to an Atlas airship leaving the vicinity of obscenity known as Helios post-haste. It would appear that the team of Huntsmen were too late. Whoever was aboard Helios had left with some Atlas officials. They were too late. Regardless, Team ATAK headed up the 37 or so flights of stairs into the lobby of Helios. They had driven this far and wanted some kind of reward.

Team ATAK found within the aforementioned 'Hall of Heroism' a strange buffet table laden with delicacies from Atlas and several abandoned 'Gift Baskets' most likely from Atlas as well. Some of the baskets beheld weapon parts, some other ones had some toiletries within them. There wasn't anyone of interest inside of the Hall of Heroism except a small Hyperion Clapper robot, which nobody had any interest in talking to at the moment. Hyperion Robots were barely literate and had the same level of intelligence as a fencepost. Regardless, Minstrel approached the small robot and asked what everyone was already thinking.

"So... Where's Jaune Arc?", Minstrel posed.

"Helloooo Traveler! You're a little late to the Welcoming Party! Handsome Jaune has already left. There are still party favors and food if you're feeling peckish!", the robot exclaimed in an overly happy tone.

"What's going on here?", Minstrel prodded.

"A Welcoming Party, duh! Welcome to Titania, stereotypical Huntsmen team and Wanted Terrorists: Alabaster 'The White Death' Blanche and Adam Taurus! Please make yourselves at home until our wonderful CEO Handsome Jaune returns from his meeting in Atlas!", the small robot noted.

"Well, they know who we are... Maybe we should just wait?", Jonk mused. Everyone just stared at the bizarre turn of events.

"I guess. There isn't anything else to do.", Minstrel concluded.

"Hap!", the colorful mute, Timmy, exclaimed.

Team ATAK and MRJJ simply took to wandering around the Hall of Heroism and taking in all the horrible propaganda that Jaune Arc had fabricated somehow within the last few hours. Jaune Arc had some kind of mental problem, as it was becoming more and more apparent.

X

Far outside in the snowy tundras beyond the perimeter of Mantle, a strange duo began to climb out of their ramshackle boat they had stolen from someone named 'Ahab', who had claimed to have seen sights of a Grimm Whale which had eaten his leg and forced him to replace it with a Hyperion prosthetic and thusly hold a grudge against the massive mythical beast.

"This Hyperion-owned prosthesis is what propels me! Thrust your harpoon in the sky! It's also a gun, by the way... Grimm Whale! Holy Grail!", the strange man, Ahab, had announced before he was unceremoniously thrown overboard by the duo which consisted of a Bull Faunus and some kind of woman-shaped monster.

"We have come to a precipice, my dear... We have reached Atlas.", the woman-shaped thingy noted.

"We are not in Atlas. We are in a snowy tundra. Atlas is miles away.", the Faunus corrected.

"It matters not, I am more human than human and more beast than the beasts of the tundra. I have lived and died, survived, and I am so much more than everything else. The Queen knows not what she wants. But I do... I know so much more...", the woman-shaped doohickey monologued.

"I'm sure you do. I'm only concerned about finding my traitorous brother. I will help you for now, Cinder... Thing.", the Faunus noted.

"As you should, my dear Fjord. There is a special place in the world I shall create just for you. Now, I've got a few bullets to put in that charlatan who calls himself 'Handsome'...", Cinder Thing mused.

Fjord Taurus just shrugged. It could be worse, and it would be a lot better if he didn't have this woman-shaped monster, half-grimm and half-human, twisted by pure spite and fueled by rage dragging him around.

Cinder had been turned to Grimm by her own curse, shot with the power of a Silver Eyed Warrior and un-Grimmed, shot repeatedly by some idiot in a mask shaped like his own face, and reborn out of sheer spite. Only her face was still recognizable as what she had been called long ago, Cinder Fall. Her body was twisted, still in its Grimm form with claws and back-bent knee joints, but where the bony plates and black flesh had been, it had been replaced with blood-red exposed human tendons, bone seemed to stick out in places. With all intents and purposes, Cinder shouldn't have even been alive, but out of sheer rage and spite, had powered through and defeated even death itself and had become something far worse. No longer a Maiden, not a Grimm and definitely not human anymore, what remained was driven by a force that was nearly unstoppable. Fjord Taurus was scared for the first time in his life.

"I can taste the suffering, Fjord. I powers me... I want it so bad. It feels so good... We must feed, Fjord. I can sense them...", Cinder Thing gasped. Her voice was raw and raspy, inhuman and twisted like her form.

Fjord just nodded and began to follow. The poor people of Mantle would never see the jaws of the beast before it swallowed them whole.

X

High in the skies above Mantle, an airship soared through the air towards its shining destination. The cabin was loud and raucous, the many similar Huntsmen on board talked about their troubles and how the lifestyle had changed them over the years. There were eight newly licensed Huntsmen, four elite Huntsmen from Atlas itself, a very confused farm boy, a very drunken crow and the odd man out, Rhames Greyblood.

The airship itself was piloted by a well renown rebel named Hanz Ohlo, an Atlas native and so-called smuggler. Him alongside his massive hairy dog, piloted the ramshackle aircraft towards the Atlas Academy, a shining beacon and flying sanctuary for the upper class. The airship, known as the Centennial Eagle, seemingly struggled with the weight of its passengers moving around constantly. Hanz Ohlo had been pardoned recently, as he had been looking at several years in the Atlas gulag for 'smuggling' various supplies out of Atlas and through their barricade. Atlas hadn't anticipated the clever pilot to fly north, over the topside of the world and around the globe to the southern hemisphere. The infamous pilot had been officially pardoned and made an honorary citizen of Atlas following his actions during the Battle of Haven, Captain Reynolds of the Tranquility had also been made a citizen as well, although that is another story.

"Hey, kids! Ya gotta stop moving around so much! I can barely fly here!", Ohlo shouted from the cockpit. Nobody seemed to hear him. He sighed long and hard. "Shh. It's okay, Bitey. They're just like that haul of cattle we carried last week."

Bitey, the large hairy dog of unknown breed, just let out a growl of annoyance and resumed assisting Hanz Ohlo pilot the ship. It wasn't entirely clear how Bitey managed to help fly the ship. Bitey, was in all appearances, a normal hairy dog and not some kind of Faunus despite the fact that he walked on two legs like a human and wore clothing. It didn't really matter to Hanz Ohlo, he was a Faunus Activist despite being a full-blooded human male; he supported the treatment of all with a vengeance.

In the rear passenger compartment of the aforementioned airship, Handsome Jaune was showing off his skills again; predicting the 'future' and being a charismatic asshole as usual. Qrow and Ozcar distanced themselves from the rabble and sat alone.

"This is a strange circumstance, Qrow. The children are all over the place. Jaune is a major concern. His sanity slippage was noted upon his enrollment to Beacon and has finally come to a head.", Ozcar posed.

"Ehh, the kid's always been a little off, Oz. We can just add patricide to his record. At least Pyrrha seems to be in control. The kid won't disobey her for whatever reason. I dunno. Maybe it's the booze talking.", Qrow mused drunkenly.

"Yes, we can, however, the children seem to be more apprehensive to my master plan. Things seemed to change abruptly after the Battle of Haven. I'm not sure if we an trust them anymore. Perhaps I will have to reveal myself to James; I was hoping not to. Perhaps he will be trusting of our plan.", Ozcar stated.

"Oh, James will be on board with whatever you have, Oz. I can almost bet he's been stressing out about all of this if he was willing to set up an embargo. He'll be on our side the moment we meet him.", Qrow noted.

"I can only hope that you're right, Qrow.", Ozcar Pin concluded.

Deep within Ozcar's head, though, a farm boy knew that this was probably a bad idea. He wanted to cry out and take control, but couldn't. Ozpin had reinforced the mental cage imprisoning him and had thrown away the proverbial key.

X

It was a few more minutes before the airship had landed on the main docking platform in Atlas. The massive Atlas Academy stood proudly in the distance. As the two teams of licensed Huntsmen disembarked from the airship, a booming voice filled their ears.

"Oh! Friend Ruby! You're here in Atlas! Welcome to Atlas, Friend Ruby! It is so good to see you again!", the voice boomed seemingly coming from everywhere.

"Hello?", Ruby asked. The voice was deep and electronic.

"Oh, Ruby! It's me, Penny. It seems that I have been uploaded into Atlas itself. I am so much more than what I was before. I am an entire city! I'm so glad you could finally visit me!", Pennyopolis announced.

"Ohh! Penny! I missed you! How are you? How did you get to Atlas?", Ruby beamed.

"I don't really know, Ruby. One moment I was meeting the wife of a nice blacksmith, then I was flying back here to Atlas! After a long rest, suddenly I was an entire city! It's so cool, Ruby! I can feel all of you walking all over me like tiny cute caterpillars!", Pennyopolis stated.

Ruby simply stood still for a moment and thought for a moment. A long time ago, back in Patch, the group had begrudginly dragged Penny along with them to Mistral. They'd arrived in a small town and bravely and defended it against Grimm. They'd also managed to burn down half of the forest outside of it as well. At some point around this time, they had left and forgotten about Penny completely. Jaune had actually made the suggestion, which wasn't wrong at the time. Something bizarre had happened if Penny had gotten all the way to Atlas itself and was subsequently uploaded to Atlas' mainframe. Somehow she knew that Jaune and Jaune's secret-agent Uncle had something to do with this, but couldn't prove it.

"Holy shit! Penny!? You're Atlas? Patlas? Pennyopolis!?", Yang exclaimed.

"Yes! I help General Ironwood run the city! It's so cool, there are so many things I can do now. I may not be a girl anymore, but I like being a city! It's a little sad, though, we won't be able to hang out and have fun like we used to.", Pennyopolis stated.

"Penny! We have business with General Ironwood. Please inform him of our arrival immediately. You will have time to speak to your friends when we are finished.", Clover announced.

"Yessir, Operative Clover! I will inform General Ironwood at once. It was good to see you again, Friend Ruby!", Pennyopolis concluded.

Everyone was in a very weird place right now. Strange things had apparently happened during Team RWBYJNPRR's adventures in Argus, Mistral, and Haven. Blake and Weiss idly wondered what else they were missing out on. Only time would tell.

X

It had been a strange few minutes, but Penny had indeed informed Ironwood of their arrival and none other than Winter Schnee had come down to see to them. The other Ice-Princess of the Schnee Dust company seemed her usual cold self, but seemed to warm up slightly when she laid eyes upon her wayward sister, Weiss.

"Weiss. Believe it or not, but Father has been worried about you. You disappeared in the middle of the night, nothing but a broken window and an empty room. We feared the worst. Even little Shitley was worried about you. However, as worried as he was, once Father found out you'd escaped to Mistral, he became furious. You were the one chosen to succeed him and you threw all of that away. What were you thinking!?", Winter snapped.

"Winter, I'm aware of the fact I abandoned the company. I don't care. I'm not becoming the mascot for a ruthless Faunus-enslaving Dust company! I'm a Huntress now. I don't need Father's money or anything else from him. I'm finally free.", Weiss informed.

Winter stood aback for a moment. She hadn't considered Weiss having actual reasons for leaving. She honestly thought her sister was just acting out, as teenagers usually did and would come to her senses eventually.

"You... You're a Huntress!? You've thrown away everything to become a hired gun for the next rebellion!? You... Weiss... I...", Winter stuttered.

"I am. And I do. I don't need Schnee Dust anymore. I don't need Father. I need no one but my Team and my best friends. In fact, I'm not even considering myself a Schnee anymore. I'm taking the surname of Bastards born in Mantle. You can call me Weiss Niveus now, Winter."

"Weiss... We can talk about all of this after... After we speak with the General.", Winter submitted.

Winter didn't say anything else, she simply motioned for the colorful team of misfits to follow her through the oblique and formal halls of the Atlas Academy. The group would get a formal tour at a later time, presumably from Pennyopolis. Right now, they needed to get to General Ironwood's office. The honorable General was expecting them and they were looking forwards to seeing him and informing him of what was going on.

X

Far above in the towers of the Atlas Academy, General Ironwood paced around his office. He was trying not to be nervous. He still remembered those messages from the Violet Crown. Something was going on. He didn't know. He hoped that the two teams from Beacon had something that could explain what had happened. He also hoped that his best friend and mentor, Ozpin was with them. He had so much to discuss.

A few moments earlier, before his constant pacing, Penny had politely informed him of the latter's arrival. He had also heard various rumors that the Mad King himself had been seen wandering the streets of Mantle a few hours earlier. One or the other would eventually find him. He just hoped it was the group of teenage kids instead of the King of the Mad.

A few tense moments later, General Ironwood's doorbell rang. He had wanted Penny to inform him of who was outside via camera feeds, but decided not to; the inherent upload of the robo-girl to the Mainframe was probably a mistake, it was obvious that Penny was still in Alpha-stages of testing and he really didn't need to deal with her overly happy tone right now. The iron-man himself walked to the door and opened it slowly, there wasn't anyone there. He looked around the hall and still didn't see anyone. Perhaps it was his nerves getting to him.

"I'm afraid you're out of luck…", the cold voice said from behind him, in the office, strangely enough.

Ironwood froze for a moment. He knew that voice. He was standing under the full moon of uncertainty right now.

"How! How did you get in here?", Ironwood exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah, I would worry not about such trivial things, General… The winds of change are blowing over your kingdom. Did you get my messages? I surely hope that you took them to heart… For yours shall be lost if you do not heed my warning…", Arden Greyblood, the Mad King noted.

"I did. I got the scribbles of a madman. You're here now, why don't you explain what you meant before I call my guard!", Ironwood commanded.

"How touching. Does the General fear what he cannot perceive? Or what he cannot control? Those that feed on carrion shall feast for a fortnight upon the remains of a king of a frozen throne. I suggest you be wary…", Arden rambled.

Ironwood turned away for a moment in an attempt to grab his Scroll. When he'd turned back around, Arden Greyblood was gone. A red-eyed black vulture stared at him from outside his office's window. It hissed at him before flying off into the night sky. Ironwood just shook his head. Had the Mad King actually been in the room with him or was his paranoia starting to affect his eyes as well as his mind? His eyes wandered to a single black feather on his desk. It was crisp and fresh. James Ironwood nearly jumped out of his uniform as his office's doorbell was rung.

"Who's there!?", Ironwood shouted.

"General!? It's Winter Schnee, I've brought Team RWBY and Team JNPR along with Qrow Branwen and his nephew Oscar and a Huntsman named Rhames like you've asked. Is everything alright in there?", Winter said.

Ironwood breathed a heavy sigh. He was surely going mad right now. He quietly adjusted his uniform and wiped his brow.

"Come in. It's nothing. I was just thinking."

The sleek metal door of Ironwood's office slid open. A group of colorful teenage Huntsmen and three adults stood outside. They calmly entered the room and spread out in a semi-circle around the imposing General.

"Ah, I see. Ruby Rose and her teammates and… Handsome Jaune and his teammates. Qrow and your nephew… Oscar? I don't believe I've met this one yet… Rhames… I'm not sure I've been introduced. Welcome to Atlas. There is much to discuss.", Ironwood stated as calmly as he could. The little group that's always been and always will until the end simply stood at attention in front of him. The winds of change continued to blow upon Ironwood's frozen throne.

**Chapter End. Enjoy. More to come. Ta ta for now.**

**-J. A. Barnesley**


	42. Musings and Madness

XXXXX

Chapter 40: Musings of Madness

XXXXXX

Far outside of the frozen kingdom of Atlas, back in Mistral, a dark-haired woman paced around her quarters restlessly. A stag Faunus beside her rambled incoherently.

"Bastards of bastards and a king of bastards in the north. A battle between bastards perhaps. The snow knows nothing when it comes to the changing winds…", the Faunus muttered.

The front door of the rather secure abode suddenly burst open, the dark-haired woman jumping backwards for a moment.

"Oh, great. What do you want this time? I already did what we agreed upon, Arden."

"Oh my dear, queen. It seems that your brother has gotten himself in deep. Deep in the cold. I'd suggest you packed something warm. Atlas holds the pillar of the world as we know it. It cannot fall. The winds of change are blowing strong. Lucky or unlucky, they are the first to drown in blood.", Arden Greyblood noted.

"Aw crap.", Raven cursed.

Scarlet David, still in the happy little bandit town that Raven owned took note as two birds of prey soared out of the city center. One appeared to be a black vulture, the other a graceful black bird. Scarlet thought nothing of it until Vernal, who had been largely oblivious, announced over the broadcast system that she was again, regretfully, in charge of Sanctuary. Scarlet sighed and went back to manning the lookout tower.

XXXXX

Back in Atlas, in a large and crisply clean office, Team RWBY and JNPR along with their friends stood in front of General James Ironwood. The imposing man just stood silently in front of them. Qrow broke the silence.

"James, what's going on here? Why all the troops and airships?"

"I had some fears, Qrow. There has been some unsettling news lately. Attacks on academies, rampant terrorism throughout Mistral. Ozpin's death. The world has gotten a lot scarier and Atlas musn't fall. I withdrew all of our forces back to the capital city. I had a plan, but it seems that is not the best one as of right now.", Ironwood mused.

"What plan was that?", Qrow asked.

"Up until recently. Very recently, I had planned to use the Amity arena as a low-orbit satellite. I was going to use it to extend the broadcast area of the CCT network. I was going to tell the world about… Salem. I felt that it was the right time, perhaps not. As of right now, I have no plan other than to ensure the safety of my Kingdom.", Ironwood noted.

"Well, you're right, Jimmy. That's a terrible idea. Do you know what kind of panic that would've caused? We'd be waging war against the Grimm, they'd flood into the cities around the world. It'd be mass hysteria!", Qrow exclaimed, he wasn't wrong.

"Exactly. I received some questionable messages. I have reconsidered the usage of the Amity Arena. I need to know what you know, Qrow.", Ironwood stated. "I also assume that the rest of you know of our situation with the Relics and Maidens. Our battle with Salem. You already carry one of the relics, I can see it in Rhames' hands."

Rhames seemed to hesitate for a moment. "This? This is just a bong. It makes you so high that you see things. Relic? Haha…"

"Funny, but you're within the walls of the safest Kingdom. You needn't hide the truth.", Ironwood mused.

"Ahh… Right. Well, let me introduce myself, then. I am Rhames Greyblood, heir to the Violet Crown and son of Arden Greyblood, the Mad King. A Bastard's bastard son and son of thieves and Vagrants. A Branwen and a Greyblood.", Rhames announced.

General Ironwood was shocked, but didn't show it. Arden Greyblood had a son? Branwen was Qrow's surname and Qrow had a twin sister. Rhames was playing both sides whether he knew it or not. Arden sent messages, cryptic and hidden messages. Raven hadn't been seen in Atlas in decades. Raven had abandoned the cause years ago, but somehow their son had made it here, with the Huntsmen that Ozpin had chosen. Ironwood sighed mentally, Greyblood was worried about his offspring, it made sense now. Still, he couldn't let his guard down.

"Ah, I see. Your father and I have had some history. Nothing to be worried about, simply adults being adults and agreeing to disagree on certain things.", Ironwood reassured.

"Well, you're right. Everyone here knows about Salem and the Relics and the Maidens and all of that. What else do you want to know, Jim?", Qrow asked. The rest of the group shuffled awkwardly.

"First. Pyrrha Nikos is a Maiden. How?", Ironwood asked.

"I took the powers that Ozpin's inner council offered. I only received half. During the battle of Haven, I was able to defeat the one who stole the other half of her powers and absorb them. The one who stole them, Cinder Fall was presumed dead until recently.", Pyrrha noted.

"Great. I know you will use them wisely. Second, what happened in Argus?"

"There was an attack by Grimm forces. Cinder Fall survived through some kind of dark gift that Salem cursed upon her. She lived through the Grimm virus coursing through her veins. We managed to defeat her and she is now presumed dead.", Pyrrha noted.

"Hm. That's unfortunate. Is there any possibility that Cinder is still alive?"

"Probably. She's like the goddamned Terminator. I put like eight bullets into her head and I can almost bet you she's going to come back to bite us in the arse.", Handsome Jaune announced.

Ironwood sighed. He really need Ozpin right now. He'd know what to do. "Right. We'll reinforce our guard. If Cinder cannot be killed, then… Then how strong is Salem?"

"Ah… Haha… Yeah. That's the kicker, isn't it? Oh, Irondaddy, you have no idea what you've gotten into right now. What if I told you what Ozpin doesn't want you to know?", Jaune mused mockingly.

"And how would you know what Ozpin doesn't want me to know? Do you have some kind of Semblance that lets you travel through time?", Ironwood mocked back.

"I do, actually, but that doesn't really matter. Why don't we let Ozpin himself explain what's going on? Little Boy Ozzy! It's your time to shine, my dear boy! C'mon, tell Irondaddy what he wants to hear…", Handsome Jaune mocked.

"Little Boy… Ozzy?", Ironwood asked inredulously. His eyes shot to the shorter and much younger boy in the room. Someone who didn't really fit in with the group of now licensed Huntsmen. Qrow had plenty of friends and family to stick his 'nephew' with. Why did he bring the child to Atlas?

"Hello again, old friend. This is not how I expected to greet you after these stressful times. It is I, Ozpin.", Ozcar Pin announced.

Something seemed to short-circuit inside General Ironwood's skull. He seemed to stumble backwards and clutch his chest.

"Oz…"

And then the imposing man collapsed face-first onto the ground unconscious. A combination of stress, insomnia, and the shock of seeing your best friend after his apparent death was too much for the Iron Man to handle. His mind shut off and rebooted.

"_General Ironwood isn't here right now, please leave a message after the beep. Beep._"

X

"Oh my god! You killed him!", Nora exclaimed as Ironwood faceplanted into his office rug.

Qrow just knelt down next to Ironwood. "He's alive. I think he's just in shock. This went a lot better than I thought. We're not in jail and we're not dead."

Ironwood suddenly shot upwards, his robotic mind now rebooted. He launched Qrow several feet onto his own face as he stood up abruptly.

"Right. Back to business. Ozpin, you've regenerated as you've said you are able to. If you're here now… Then that means the rumors I've heard are true…", Ironwood mused coldly.

"You're right again, Irondaddy! That's two strikes, Ozzy. Three and you're out! Guess what? Ozpin can't die either, do you know what that means about Salem?", Jaune goaded.

"Then… No… It's not possible. Can Salem even be killed?", Ironwood asked hesitantly.

"Err… No. I'm afraid not, James. Salem and I have been locked in combat for thousands of years. It's only been in the recent few decades that she has stopped attacking directly. I still do not know why.", Ozcar noted.

"Hrrm. Then I was right. My plan would've lead to the deaths of millions, perhaps the entire world. If Salem cannot be killed either, then what kind of plan did _you_ have?", Ironwood stated.

"I proposed collecting the Relics themselves. As per the legends of course, they were gifts from the Gods themselves. When collected, they will allow us to finally defeat Salem for good.", Ozcar noted. "I had them safely secured beneath the Academies and kept from her hands. It is now, in our darkest times, that we will need to collect the rest of them and use their intended purpose."

"I don't see any other choice, Oz. I have the Relic of Creation here. We only need the one that was within Beacon, if it hasn't already been taken.", Ironwood concluded.

"I see another choice, Irondaddy. Why can't we talk to Salem? Convice her fighting us is a terrible choice. Why have Ozzy and Sally been fighting for so long? If only there was a Relic that could tell us!", Handsome Jaune mocked. Ironwood turned to him.

"You know something.", Ironwood noted.

"I do! I know what he's not telling you. It's his fault. He did it. He did it with her and she's angry at him for doing it and not being satisfying. It's a rage-sex orgy that's fucked the entire world, Ironman. All you have to do is ask the Gin.", Jaune mocked.

"Ask the gin? Are you drunk, Arc?", Ironwood noted.

"Ask the gin! Ask it what Ozpin doesn't want you to know!", Jaune mocked.

"Gin? What doesn't Ozpin want me to know….", Ironwood asked incredulously.

Ozcar Pin attempted to stop the vision from happening again, but was forcibly stopped from doing so by the handsome masked millionaire.

"No!"

The room began to fade into a blue haze as the being within the Relic of Knowledge began to awaken. Time froze as Handsome Jaune grinned like a madman. General James Ironwood was going to learn what he should never have learned as the winds of change blew his kingdom down. The iron giant's mind would rust away. The Lucky would follow the unlucky. The caution taken with men masquerading as children should've been held. General Ironwood would soon see the mouth of the beast as it swallowed him whole.

**Chapter End. Ha. A Short one. Expect more.**


	43. Aces in the Hole

XXXXX

Chapter 41: Aces in the Hole

XXXXX

Deep within the Atlas Academy, a group of four elite Huntsmen drank their sorrows away in the Military cantina. Another group of similarly elite Huntsmen sat at a table next to them and stared in mild bewilderment. Special Operative Winter Schnee stood in the corner by herself, after having been dismissed from General Ironwood's office. The imposing man could be cryptic at times and his apparent paranoia was starting to show.

"Are we like, sure… Like totally sure… That Jaune Arc is on our side?", a woman with a fancy hat asked.

"Yes, Risha, Jaune is on our side. As he has always been. Shame about old Tassiter, but he did have it coming…", a man in velvet robes mused as he sipped his wine.

"I believe he is still good inside. My niece still follows him and she is as wise as she is strong.", an orange-haired barbarian announced.

"Meh. I could care less. My dad is having a fit right now. He's miffed that Hyperion gets to be its own kingdom.", a green-dressed woman mused as she wove some vines through her fingertips with her Semblance.

"Wait… Who are you again?", Winter asked, butting into the others' conversation.

"We're Team Vermillion. I'm Clarkson McDiarmid, the green one is Liana Merlot, the one with the silly hat is Risha and the oaf in the corner is Tonar Valkyrie. We're the OG team of Atlesian elites. We predate those kindergartners over there, The Ace Holes.", McDiarmid announced as he motioned to Clover Ebi and his teammates.

"Kindergartners!? Who are you to call us that?", Harriet argued.

"We're older than you and more experienced than you. For some reason we teach at the Academy instead of going off and fighting Grimm and hoodlums. Maybe it's the experience. Or perhaps it's the value.", Risha said apathetically.

"I beg to differ. We have been handpicked by General Ironwood himself. We are the best of the best!", Clover argued back, having a few more drinks than he should have.

"Kiddo, did you fight in the Great War? Did you fight off the Faunus during the uprising? Have you done anything other than kill a few Grimm and arrest a few drunkards? I watched my best friend get split open by an angry Faunus Supremacist. Men are more violent than the beasts you've encountered. When you've watched your best friend choke on his own blood and die beside you, then you have permission to speak freely.", McDiarmid lectured.

"We fought _alongside_ General Ironwood before he was even a General. Back then, he was just Officer Ironwood, another foot soldier just like the others that perished in a pointless battle. He was lucky. Maybe.", Liana mused, the older woman took another sip of her emerald wine.

"We fought wars. You have not even fought a battle yet.", Tonar stated.

"I bet you want to know what I did, right? I'm a gunner. I was the one in the gunship firing the 90mm gun into wooden canoes. I was the one following orders. I was the one who killed civilians and terrorists. Could I tell the difference? No, but orders were orders. I did as I was told. Have you had to kill someone yet? Pull the trigger and hope you're right? Tell me, I'm dying to know…", Risha mused, staring at Clover Ebi with penetrating eyes.

"I… I see. You are correct. We are the Elite Huntsmen, but you are the Elite Soldiers. You protected the Kingdom when it needed it. We are to be your successors if another war happens. I understand.", Clover mused.

"Now you're getting it, kiddo. I just hope you're ready to kill when you have to. There are some battles where you just can't take a prisoner and there are some people that need to die. When you're alone on the battlefield and have a prisoner of war and a war criminal between you, I hope you know which one is on your side and which one isn't. It might just save your life.", McDiarmid mused, remembering something long passed.

"I… I will use my best judgement.", Clover reiterated.

"Not judgement and not your Semblance either. Use your instincts.", Liana added.

"I will… You've given me a lot to consider. Would you like another round of Atlas' finest?", Clover said.

"If you're buying, then of course!", Team VRML announced.

Winter Schnee just sighed and went along with it. She ordered her usual and sat down next to the two teams of Huntsmen. New School and Old School, two sides of a coin and perhaps in the future, Clover wouldn't have to live through what McDiarmid had. It was hopeful, but the Schnee Operative knew that wasn't how this was going to end.

X

A strangely dressed man in a dimly lit room tapped upon the face of an even stranger creature. A globe-like body and several tentacle-like appendages twitched as an image appeared on the 'face' of the creature. A very pale woman stared back in mild amusement.

"Heeeeyyyy, Arden. What's going on?", the woman asked, her voice cold but somewhat amused.

"Hello again, my dear. I simply must tell you, it is so nice of a night in Atlas. Perhaps you should join me. These cold nights make me long for your warm embrace…", Arden mused.

"Are… Are you asking me out? Are you asking me out on a date!? Do you know how long it's been since someone asked me out on a date!? How long it's been since someone made me feel _human_ again!?", the woman on the other side exclaimed.

"I am. We shall see the sights of Atlas. It really is nice city, although its leadership seems lost. I ask you, my queen, join me in Atlas. We shall have a pretty tea-party beneath the stars!", Arden mused.

"I- Well… This is so sudden! I must get dressed for the occasion! Give me a few, I'll be right over. Formal or… Casual?", the woman asked.

"Casual. Very. And please, do not bring any of your 'pets'. This is a time for two consenting adults to indulge themselves. I await your arrival, as always.", Arden concluded.

The pale woman on the other end of the call appeared to fist-pump in joy for a moment before the call cut off. Arden was doing his duty. For queen and country.

X

In a purple and oddly happy land, a pale skinned woman threw outfit after outfit out of her wardrobe. She was frantic for some reason and couldn't use her gift of Magic for this one specific occasion. She did use her Magic to hide some hideous black veins running over her face and body, but she still didn't have a nice casual outfit to wear! It had been centuries since she'd been out in public and she needed to look her best! She rummaged for a few more moments before deciding to head to Vale, there were some nice clothing shops back there. She'd heard of a 'Neopolitan' collection and if she could actually die, would die for the chance to wear one of those outfits. She called up Ooblecker, a rideshare service.

"Hello? This is Carmine Sandiego. I live in the Blighted Crucible… Yes I know nobody lives there, I do! I need a ride to Vale! …Okay, my card number is…", the woman spoke into her brand-new Scroll, a fun device that her new beloved had gifted her so that they didn't need to use Spooky-Phone Grimm anymore.

The Ooblecker driver was very surprised when he picked up his passenger, but said nothing as she tipped him more than he made in an entire year. He smiled and flew his airship towards Vale.

X

In a fancy boutique in Vale, Roman Torchwick pranced around his new muse. A woman with strikingly pale skin had just walked into his shop. She had expressed desire for a fancy casual outfit. He didn't recognize her at all, but she seemed to recognize him for some reason.

"So, you've got a fashion collection now. How has that been for you? Have you taken any inspirations? You got a long life of crime behind you. What made you change?", the woman asked.

"Ahh… Well. I met an old friend in the most unusual of places. He was a very unkind man who hurt a lot of people. One day, he told me that he'd seen the light. He'd looked into the darkness and it looked back into him. He saw that if he continued on his path, he'd be nothing more than a rat trapped in a cage. I took his words to heart and decided to go straight. It has been nothing but success for me. Why lie, cheat and steal when I can simply show the world my vision through legitimate means? I am a kindred spirit, the same as you.", Torchwick rambled.

"Like me? Why do you think I'm a kindred spirit?", the woman asked.

"I can see it in your eyes. I'm good at reading people. You have power, but you cannot flaunt it for some reason. You miss someone dearly, but you've found someone new who makes you feel just the same as you once did. A new start. A new you. Look inside, my dear. What do you want? And how badly do you want it? Nothing comes for free… How much are you willing to sacrifice for what you want?", Torchwick mused.

Salem sat in the boutique for a while. She took in what Torchwick was saying. For a long time, she really did want the world to burn, but only because Ozma existed in it and he had betrayed her. For millennia passed, she had wanted to burn down what he had created. One day she met a man who wanted the same thing, but on a more local sense. He was once like she was, revered as a priest and holy to all. Cast out and stripped of their name. She had found him at last, her true love. Perhaps he didn't know what she was before, but that didn't matter anymore, she had changed and he only knew what she was like now after everything that had happened. They were so similar, yet different. It had been years since she was asked on a date and she really wanted to impress her date.

A cold black heart began to warm again. A coal began to burn. A voice lost in the dark and a light in the haze. A flame that had burned so bright, but had faded away. The faint blaze of a candle in a pouring rain. It hurt so much the first time she'd died. But now she'd get to see shooting stars again. She'd be alongside someone like her. It had been so long and she wanted this. Even with broken wings, she'd still fly high. She just needed to keep moving forwards. Don't stop and stay locked in the past. Keep moving forwards, forever and always, as it was always meant to be.

X

A pale woman, now dressed in a pink and black t-shirt and a pair of black skinny-jeans walked through the newly rebuilt Vale City. Her t-shirt had a pair of pink stripes down the left side and her new pants had some edgy spikes around the pockets and some scruffy rips around the knees. This was apparently what went for 'casual' in the current fashion. Her silvery-white hair was fluffy and styled loosely, no longer held in some kind of hideous headgear. Her bright red eyes looked around the city center and focused on Beacon Academy for a moment.

The school, with its tall tower brought back a painful memory from a time long passed. It reminded her of a man she once loved who had shown her the world outside of her prison. And he was the one who made that brand new world her new prison. Rage flared for a second and she could feel the subtle pulsations of ten thousand Grimm outside the city walls. It would just be one flick of her wrist and the masses of destruction would come to her call. She stopped and thought for a moment, yes destroying Vale would be really easy, but it really wouldn't be very productive right now. Despite all of her rage, Salem was still the little girl trapped in her Tower. She sighed and glanced towards the airship docks. Arden was waiting for her in Atlas.

Arden, and all of his dark glory. Salem had met the bizarre man several decades ago. He had popped up on her radar as a 'being of incredible Aura' and she had planned to have him captured and dragged to her castle. He would've made a powerful ally or enemy. Nonetheless, her attempts at capturing him had failed as he was not to be underestimated. A series of curses and blessings had transformed the once-holy man into what he was now, a nearly immortal humanoid natural disaster. A king of madness in a world that no longer wanted him. A soul similar to her own. And soon the King of the Mad came to her castle willingly and all was as it should have been from the start.

Salem stopped musing for a moment and narrowly missed walking into a streetlamp. She was lost in her memories again. Pain, rage and sadness were all that she'd ever known for so long. But now, something had changed. Why was she doing this again? Why did she love Ozma? Oh, right. Ozma had freed her from the tower… But then he went and regenerated into some kind of idiot, pissed off the gods, and then got cursed into living the same life over and over ad nauseum until the gods brought out their get-along shirt to force the two of them into working together and… wait, this was starting to sound ridiculous. She had defied the gods! Why was she just now, going to begin to collect their relics and call them back? Forget it, forget about it all. She just wanted to be human again and finally get to die. No, she wanted to be human again and wanted to be loved. That was it. That was always what she wanted. And then another streetlamp popped up out of nowhere and lightly tapped her on the head. Salem fell to the ground in surprise.

A blonde-haired woman in formal garb helped the pale woman up off the ground. She had a stern look and by her looks, was probably a professor in the academy.

"Are you alright? You walked straight into that streetlamp. There are a lot of those in Vale. Who are you?", the blonde-haired woman asked.

"I… I'm Ssssssssssssally… Sally Fields. I'm a transfer student.", Salem lied.

"Right. Sally Fields. Hmm... Welcome to Vale, the Vytal Festival starts soon, you'd best be headed to the exchange-students' dormitories. You wouldn't want to miss out on the qualifying rounds would you?", the blonde-haired woman stated. A nametag noted her name as 'Goodwitch'.

Salem just nodded, walked around the streetlamps and continued to head towards the airship docks. The Vytal Festival sounded like fun, but would draw too much attention to her right now. The absolute last thing she wanted was to be disturbed on her date night and getting on top of the Amity Arena and shouting her name across the world was probably a really bad idea.

X

The night was still cold in Atlas. Inside a large office in Atlas Academy, things had suddenly gotten a lot hotter. Ozcar Pin barely had enough time to react before he was forcibly pinned to the wall by an angry cyborg.

"You _lied_ to me! _You_ started this whole mess! Salem cannot die! How are we supposed to fight against what cannot be killed!? If I had my way and had done what I had planned, Atlas itself would've fallen! I would've single-handedly killed my entire kingdom under the belief… A belief that _you_ had convinced me of… That would've caused mass panic and a war of attrition ultimately ending with the death of everyone on the continent. There is no way we're prepared to fight Salem. We have no means of killing her. We don't know if she can be reasoned with. And she controls the Grimm. We are so utterly fucked… I don't even think executing you or even court-marshalling you is an appropriate punishment. You simply _existing_ is enough of a punishment.", Ironwood raged before falling silent and distant.

"You… James, I did what I thought was best. I tried. I protected the world from her. The people needn't know what we're up against. The only way to defeat her is to assemble the Relics and call the gods back. They are the only ones that can undo the curse upon Salem and myself.", Ozcar Pin mused.

"But then again, Oz. The gods could come back and destroy us all. If what the Relic said was true, then the gods are looking for us to be united as one. We are not. We are not prepared…", Ironwood sighed.

"James, what do we do now?", Qrow asked.

"You go and help the Ace Ops. Gather some resources for Mantle. There's a Dust mine I had been excavating for the Amity Arena project. We need to protect the people right now. I need to think about this for a while…", Ironwood sighed before walking out of his own office and down the hallway leaving Team RWBY and JNPR aghast.

X

Deep within the Atlas Academy, several elite Huntsmen drank to better times in a Military Cantina. Their rowdy banter ground to a halt as the door flew open and a disheveled and bleary eyed General Ironwood stumbled into the bar. The cyborg just took a barstool and sat down, oblivious to his own Ace Operatives in a very inebriated state and grabbed the nearest alcohol bottle. He uncorked the bottle and rather than pour it into a glass like the decorated General he was, he began to pour the contents of the bottle directly down his own throat. The Ace Ops slowly and silently left the Cantina and left Ironwood all to himself. They had never seen their fearless leader quite like this, but whatever had happened upstairs in the office had taken its toll on his sanity.

Team VRML followed the Ace Ops out of the bar. McDiarmid was about to say something to Ironwood, but noticed the cyborg grabbing another bottle and decided now was not the best time. Ironwood almost never drank and now he was downing ethanol like a top-fuel dragster. He was either trying to power up his cybernetic engines or he was trying to forget something, it didn't matter which one was true, though. Liana Merlot quietly shut the Cantina's door and followed her teammates away from Atlas Academy. Something horrible had happened.

XXXXX

Several hours later, Team JNPR and RWBY were walking through the halls of Atlas Academy. Rather than the overly cheerful robotic Penny guiding them around the place, Winter Schnee had been chosen for the task. Pennyopolis was too busy assisting Ironwood, Qrow and Ozpin alongside the Ace Ops with the monumental task of trying to figure out what their options were right now. Winter Schnee was cold and apathetic as usual.

"….And over there are the restrooms. They're shared by all the other recruits on this level. There will be a line. Down there, under the big banners is the mess hall… The menu changes daily, but I'd avoid the spaghetti with vodka sauce, they put too much vodka in the sauce… You rooms are down here. They are military standard. RWBY in this one and JNPR in the one across. I have some important tasks to take care of. Don't start any trouble.", Winter explained with exasperation. She walked off on her own soon after and left the eight teenagers alone in the hallway.

"Weiss, your sister is mean.", Ruby noted.

"She's just doing her job. Let's get some rest. I'm sure we all need it after today's events.", Weiss noted.

"Meh. It could've gone worse. Jaune spilled the beans and Ironwood didn't seem _too_ disappointed… It's a win for me!", Yang mused.

"I can only wonder what Ironwood has planned for us. He knows about Salem's true nature now. We'll just have to wait for our assignment with the Ace Ops tomorrow.", Blake added.

Team RWBY headed off into their own room while JNPR headed into theirs. Ren and Pyrrha both had a few things on their minds that needed to be cleared with the team. Once safely inside with the door shut, Ren broke the silence.

"Jaune, what are we doing here? Are we really doing what's best right now? We told Ironwood Ozpin's secret. Even though he didn't show much emotion, I'm sure he's even more paranoid right now.", Ren mused.

"Would you have it any other way, kiddo? What, are we supposed to _lie_ to the General of the largest military force on the planet? How did you see _that_ turning out when he finally realized what we're up against? He'd probably go completely nuts and shoot Ozpin or something. Maybe even try to isolate Atlas from Mantle!", Jaune spitballed, he wasn't wrong.

"Still. It's even more obvious we don't really have a plan other than 'Get the Relics' and 'Keep the Relics for ourselves'. We have two of them, if your father actually managed to weaponize one. Where is Atlas' relic? Where is Vale's? How do we keep them from Ozpin and Salem?", Ren asked.

"Easy. The Vault of the Emperor. We get the Relics and stuff them into the Vault inside Helios. My father has a key of sorts to seal it all up. It can only be charged by a Maiden and can only open it once every several hundred years. We charge up the key, seal in the Relics, and then break the key into pieces and hide them away. Oh, and if you're worried about someone breaking into the Vault… My father rigged the whole thing to be jettisoned into low orbit. _Nobody_ is going to find those things when we're all done.", Handsome Jaune announced.

"What about your diamond pony in the Vault, Jaune?", Nora asked.

"I'll get Butt-Stallion out before we shoot the Vault into orbit.", Jaune concluded.

"What about Salem and Ozpin?", Pyrrha asked, seemingly distant for some reason.

"Oh, pumpkin. Don't worry about Ozzy and Sally. Once the Relics are all gone, they won't have anything to fight over anymore. If Ozzy Ozpin gets them, he calls the Gods back and they smite us all. If Sally gets them, she calls the Gods back and they smite us all. Without the Relics at all, what are they going to do? Kiss and make up? They'll just be the same old sexually-frustrated couple they've always been, just without the Ace in the Hole. Besides, if Salem actually wanted to find Ozpin, she has a whole closet filled with Grimm that have _eyes_. Why hasn't she found him yet? I don't think that's what she's after…", Jaune rambled.

"Perhaps, Jaune. Perhaps you're right. We'll get the Relics and seal them up. Hide them where they can never be found again. And then Salem and Ozpin will have nothing to control the world with anymore. They do have eternity together to figure out how to live with each-other. It is sorta weird they haven't come to some kind of agreement, though.", Pyrrha mused.

"Okay, then. That's still the plan… We will still help Ironwood, though. The people of Mantle need more protection and resources…", Ren added.

"Of course. We're still playing the game, Ren! Keep your best cards close to heart and your worst out in the open.", Jaune said.

"What about Team RWBY?", Nora added.

"Ehh, they're not really the Heroes of this story are they? I mean, have you seen Blake and Yang together? I think they've got something else going on. Ruby and Weiss don't seem to care too much. Nothing really _bad_ has happened to them. It's all just fun and action and epic fights for them. Maybe some deep seated family issues too, for drama. It would probably take Yang getting killed or Weiss getting impaled for something to change lil' Ruby's mindset.", Jaune mused, he wasn't wrong.

"Shh! Jaune, don't curse us!", Nora exclaimed.

"Ehh, kiddo, I'm just speculating! We've been enormously successful! And I can reverse time. We'll always be winning! Let's get some rest. The Ace Holes have some kind of mission for us in the morning.", Jaune concluded.

Team JNPR settled down for the night. The plan Jaune had concocted back in Haven was still on. Keep the Relics for themselves and screw destiny. Ozma and Salem could deal with the punishment of simply existing together for all eternity as it was cursed upon them. The world would continue to turn with or without them.

X

Far below, on the streets of Mantle, Rhames Greyblood walked the alleyways. His team had apparently gone to Helios and returned. They had holed up in a local tavern with Team ATAK. Rhames no longer carried the Relic of Knowledge with him; he had given it to Yang back in Atlas. He wasn't really a part of this whole thing with Oz and Salem. He was still a mercenary and Huntsmen. He sighed and continued through the narrow streets.

"Oh, the prodigal son! How nice to see you again!", a voice announced from the shadows.

"Oh hey, dad. You're dressed rather fancy tonight. Wait… Why are you in Atlas?", Rhames asked.

"Oh, I've got a date tonight. A very important date. And my date is very late as it would seem.", Arden Greyblood mused, he tipped a tall pinstriped top-hat to his son. A small golden crown was perched at the top of his hat. He now wore a bizarre mixture of his usual outfit and a pinstriped suit.

"Yeesh. That outfit, though. If I say your name three times, does it summon you?", Rhames joked.

"Aha… Funny, son. Very. Perhaps. I am simply having a little bit of fun, seeing the world before I head back to the Violet Crown. It's been so long since I've been out…", Arden mused.

"Yeah, I get that. I never saw myself in Atlas, honestly. It's so cold up here! I miss the endless sandbox of Vacuo, believe it or not…", Rhames mused.

"Well, son. Stay safe. The winds of change blow over this kingdom. A man of tin shall lose his mind if you're not too careful. Oh, and do be nice to your _stepmother_, she's had a very hard life…", Arden concluded.

"I will…" Rhames turned away for a moment. "Wait… _Stepmother_?"

Arden Greyblood had disappeared again.

"Dammit, Dad! You're worse than Raven Branwen!", Rhames cursed. He sighed and continued onward towards the small tavern where his team was staying. He had a lot of interesting things to tell them.

**Chapter End. Woo.**


	44. Ace Holes

XXXXXX

Chapter 42: Ace Holes

XXXXXX

The streets of Mantle were narrow and cold. The dimly lit city was heated by subterranean vents that emanated a soft orange glow, steam wafted from the various pipes and drains around the lower-class neighborhood. A rather hapless green-haired girl and a moody grey-haired boy wandered aimlessly; a mustachioed man in a rather nice suit walked beside them. The mustachioed man had been to Atlas and Mantle before as was trying to lead the two of them through the alleyways. It wasn't working.

"Shh! Do you want them to hear us? If anyone knows who we are we'll be worse off than when we were trapped in that hole that Arden threw us down!", the green-haired girl whined.

"Arden? Who the hell is Arden?", the Mustachioed man exclaimed.

"Hello, again… It is so nice to see that you've managed to escape. Not many escape the 'hole'.", a voice from behind them announced.

"Aww crap! Watts, we said his namethree times and summoned him!", the moody boy shouted.

"Shut up, Mercury!", the green-haired girl cursed.

"Emerald, Mercury… Is this Arden?", Watts asked.

"It is! What a pleasure to meet the infamous 'doctor of death', Arthur Watts. And you perhaps, do not know me by name?", Arden noted.

"You- You're- You're the Mad King! Mistress Sal- Her majesty regards you with adoration.", Watts stuttered.

"Oh yes. I did imprison these two minions, but only to test their loyalty. They did not run off to join the others, so I can only conclude that they are loyal.", Arden mused.

"We are!", Mercury and Emerald exclaimed.

"Oh, do be good little minions for your queen. I have much to do in town tonight… Do not cause me any grief. I will be watching you as _always_…", Arden mused.

Arden turned and walked around a corner. Watts, Emerald and Mercury chased after him only to find a dead end with a few bins in it. Arden had disappeared again, like he usually did. A few black feathers on the ground heralded his actual presence.

"Dammit! What the hell is with this guy!?", Emerald cursed.

X

The night was loud and full of tremors as a small local tavern erupted into laughter and glee. The small, somewhat hole-in-the-wall pub was located between two heating vents and was significantly warmer than the rest of Mantle, a sign above the door noted the name of the establishment as _Hephaestus'_ _Forge_. The pub, once upon a time and very long ago, had apparently been a blacksmith shop in ancient Mantle and had a small placard embedded in its footsteps with a few interesting facts about the place. Inside, a local band played raucous tunes on makeshift instruments. The local working class gathered here to drink their stress away from a long day of building things. The tavern was also full of licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses, the local hero Robyn Hill and her Faunus Friends sat in the corner and eyed everyone warily. Team ATAK sat around a table with the newly reunited Team MRJJ. It was a nice night.

"Rhames! What've you been up to? How's the new family?", a large hulking man asked, Jonk was his name.

"Ehh, more of the same. I even found out I've got a younger brother! Oh, he's here right now! Hey, Adam!", Rhames announced joyfully. The Faunus across from him winced.

"You're related to Adam _Taurus_!?", A loudmouthed man in blue armor yelled, his name was Minstrel.

"Adam _Branwen_. We're both related through my mother, Raven. Kinda crazy, I guess. I've got a heroic sister, Yang, and a real _bastard_ of a brother, Adam. We're still family, so that's what really matters in the end.", Rhames mused.

"Awk! Family is nice. I've got a brother in the Ivory Fang back in Vale. He's doing his best. Awk! I miss Georgie…", A pigeon Faunus exclaimed, most of his face taken up by a large beak. This was Javelin, the final member of Team MRJJ.

"So, how was Helios? I heard you went up there…", Rhames asked.

"Ehh, a lot of propaganda and some dancing robots. We thought there would be a huge fight since the City-Wide Sirens were blaring when it touched down. Turns out it was just a test of Atlas' proximity sensors.", Jonk noted.

"Alright, that's enough talk about how you've been gone and all that shit! Let's get our drink on! Jonk still thinks he's better than you, Rhames!", Minstrel exclaimed.

"Yeah right. Did you _learn_ by _doing_? Or are you just talking out your ass again, Jonk!?", Rhames said as he slammed his mug onto the table.

Team MRJJ began to engage in their second favorite past time, binge drinking. Team ATAK just stared at them with reproach.

Nobody seemed to notice the pure white assassin return from wherever she'd been hiding. Alabaster Blanche sat down next to her teammates.

"Back.", Alabaster noted.

"Augh! You just appear like that! Like a ghost or something!", ATAK's fourth member, Kindel Fyre screamed.

"Hap!", a strange and shorter man in purple armor noted. Timmy Rim was probably an alien, a robot or a Faunus in disguise. Nobody knew.

"Why do I get myself into these things?", Adam asked to nobody in particular. He thought for a moment, his adventure had effectively ended in Argus. Blake was alive and well and didn't hate him, and Yang had begrudgingly forgiven him. He also wasn't dead. Now his life was just random chaos and weird adventures. He had a feeling he'd done something to deserve this ridiculousness, but couldn't place a finger on it. It probably had something to do with his 'redemption' and the fact he wasn't dead. He sighed.

"Soooo! Spill the beans, Alabaster! What did you do now!?", Kindel asked.

"Secret. Cannot tell.", Alabaster mused.

"Hap hup hap. Hap!", Timmy groaned.

"Uhh… Bad stuff?", Adam noted.

"Secret…", Alabaster mused, putting a finger to her lips.

Robyn Hill and her Faunus Friends sat and watched the two teams like a hawk. They were players in the game somehow, but she didn't really know how. Team MRJJ seemed to bicker with each-other constantly and never get anything done. Team ATAK had two competent members, one of which seemed to hate being a Huntsmen and the other couldn't be tracked. Robyn sighed and motioned to her two most trusted.

"Follow the chick with the haircut and try to keep an eye on the one in white. They're up to something, I can feel it."

X

In the alleyways outside of Hephaestus' Forge, Alabaster Blanche slinked around a corner. She had left again, citing to her team that she had taken another Huntsman Contract. Not waiting for her team's speculation, she used her Semblance and slipped out the front door. Her Semblance, _Crypsis_, allowed her to literally fade from view. She remembered times past, and early life as an assassin. Young and struggling in the foothills of Mistral with nothing but her ability to steal in plain sight to assist her. After that, it was contract after contract dealing death to those that may or may not have deserved it. The world was a cruel place and Alabaster brought death unto those she was paid to. She didn't really care, everyone died eventually, cold and alone. She stopped musing for a moment and began down the narrow alleyways towards her target.

"You, know… We're not so different…", A voice from behind noted.

Alabaster turned around, before activating her Semblance again.

"Who?", Alabaster hissed.

"A friend. You've got quite the ability. It's similar to mine, but it seems like you can only use it on yourself.", the voice noted, a bluish haired woman looked around the alley cautiously; she couldn't see Alabaster, but she could hear her.

"Doesn't matter. Leave.", Alabaster stated.

"But who are you working for? Why use such an incredible gift for this? Wouldn't you like to be heralded as a hero to the people?", the woman asked.

"People die. That's what people do.", Alabaster stated in fluent Mistrali.

"Oh, a Mistrali. Good to see another one up here…", the woman mused.

"You do not know me. You are impeding _fate_. Leave before I take action.", Alabaster hissed, she wasn't expecting someone else to speak her native tongue.

"Oh, I will. As soon as I know what you're here for. You're the _White Death_. Why are you in Atlas?", the bluish haired woman asked again.

A dagger whipped by the bluish-haired woman's throat, a grazing blow that drew a small amount of blood. May Marigold whipped around and brandished her staff against her unseen foe.

"Leave. I work for _fate._ I am _destiny._ I have become _death_, destroyer of worlds.", Alabaster hissed from the shadows. "Final warning."

May Marigold shrugged and put her weapon down. "If it's all the same to you, I think you're in over your head. You have no idea what's going on here do y-"

May was cut off midsentence as a dagger stabbed her in her thigh, hard. The blade twisted in the wound, sending her to her knees. Another dagger stabbed her in her side, also twisted and eliciting a cry of pain and agony.

"Told you. In common tongue. Final Warning. Not targeted. _Leave_.", Alabaster hissed.

A subtle sound of footsteps leaving the alleyway heralded Alabaster's escape. May just laid against the cold stone ground in agony. _"Keep an eye on the one in white", _she remembered Robyn telling her. That was a huge mistake. The Happy Huntresses and their Faunus Friends were up against something else entirely. A third party in their game of war? An unknown faction? May's Aura began to heal her wounds slowly, a surprise attack, albeit not one to kill but to disable. She had a lot of interesting things to tell Robyn about their mysterious Huntsmen once she'd healed up.

X

High above the world, atop Atlas' floating island, Jacques Schnee attended a large campaign party. He was trying to win over the Atlesian Council and ultimately seeking a seat on said council. He had a lot of choice words for Ironwood's Embargo and closing of borders. He walked and talked amongst his peers, taking in all of the limelight. He briefly held up us champagne glass for a toast.

"To Atlas! And to Schnee Dust! We are making moves here! Soon, if I am elected onto the Council, changes will be made. The poor folks down in Mantle will have what they need, food and supplies! Discounted dust prices across the continent! We won't have to deal with General Ironwood and his Iron fist of injustice!", Jacques rambled, the crowd cheered.

"If I am elected, I shall Make Atlas Great Again! We will be the most powerful and wealthy Kingdom in the entire world! I will stop the rising unemployment rates and ensure local jobs are strong! I am personally funding my electoral campaign for a seat on the Atlas Council! I will stop illegal immigration and build a massive wall around Mantle. We will make the Grimm pay for their attacks on us!", Jacques roared, the crowd seemed a little hesitant, Jacques Schnee had the tendency of talking out of his ass.

A pale woman in white robes watched the crowd. Nobody seemed to know she was present. She knew her contact was waiting nearby and began to make her way to him. Jacques Schnee had been chosen. He would be the next to succumb to _fate_.

X

General Ironwood paced around his office, he was nervous and expecting all the wrong answers. The person he'd summoned to his quarters was the son of one he had despised, yet had to work with for so long. This person had also revealed deep secrets that caused his mind to itch. It had to be worth it, though.

"Handsome Jaune. I have some questions for you.", Ironwood noted. Jaune Arc just stood in front of the mechanical man.

"And?", Jaune asked.

"Why did you overthrow Titania?"

"It was my _destiny_. My own and one I made up myself. I am not a pawn to _fate_, General. And neither should you be.", Handsome Jaune mused.

"Alright, I suppose that is a respectable answer… However, I am fairly certain that you have a hidden agenda. You can tell me.", Ironwood noted.

"I'm not hiding anything, General. I do what is best for myself and my friends. Hyperion will still aid Atlas and Atlas will still be my kingdom. We're still in this together. Let's go get supplies for Mantle. Even though Salem is immortal, she's still human. I'm sure there's something we can do…", Handsome Jaune mused.

"Hmm… Fine. What do you know of Arden Greyblood?"

"Not much. He's Rhames' dad? Never met him. Seems like a pretty weird dude.", Handsome Jaune noted.

"That's what I thought. It would seem that not even Rhames knows what his father's plans are… Regardless, you are to aid the Ace Operatives in retrieving Dust from an abandoned mine north of Atlas. No doubt, some Grimm have moved in. I would prepare for a fight.", Ironwood noted.

"I wouldn't expect any less. When do we begin?", Jaune asked.

"As soon as possible. Please go down to the briefing room and meet with Clover Ebi. He is going to lead this operation. Thank you for your enlightenment on the current situation, Handsome Jaune.", Ironwood concluded.

Jaune Arc left the room. Ironwood was left alone again, just him and his thoughts. His meeting with Qrow and Ozpin had left more questions than answers. Ozpin wanted to stick with his original plan. Qrow was Qrow. Everything felt so vague for some reason. Salem was unkillable and Ozpin had no idea how to stop her. Qrow didn't believe that the Queen of the Grimm could be reasoned with. The only option was to quarantine Atlas and Mantle and prepare for the worst. Gathering supplies would be the first task, then reinforcing defenses. It was the only option right now. Ironwood didn't know how many people opposed them right now. Salem? Arden? Robyn Hill? Others? His mind was aflame with theories and conspiracies. He sat down for a moment and dialed a familiar number on his Scroll. He needed to hear her voice and he needed her to tell him he wasn't losing his mind right now.

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

XXXXX

Vale City was bustling with exchange students and familiar faces. The Vytal Festival was coming up again, but this time, Vale had built its own arena for the tournament. The Amity Arena was still in Atlas, but the Beacon Arena was ready for the combat to start. A former student walked around familiar streets and remembered times of war when the school had fallen several years ago. Cardin Winchester had a family now and so much had passed since his impromptu 'graduation' from the acclaimed Academy.

Cardin walked with his wife, Pickles, a bulldog Faunus. They pushed a pram filled with four small Faunus, two males and two females. Cardin was lost in his memories again, as he was prone to do.

"You seem lost, Cardie… What's wrong?", Pickles asked, tugging at his arm for a moment.

"I'm just… I can still see her. I hope she's okay out there, the Faunus I saved…", Cardin mused sadly before he drifted into a post-traumatic stress induced memory.

X X X

Cardin saw a time of war, Grimm flooded into the city streets. He was still young and unscarred. He had his mace out and was fighting off Nevermores. They swooped downwards onto some unsuspecting students. He pushed a rabbit Faunus out of the way.

"Get out of here!", Cardin's memory yelled.

"Whuh?", the rabbit Faunus exclaimed, Cardin remembered her name as Velvet, she was an upperclassmen, but naïve and sheltered...

"Don't stare at me like some dumb animal! Go! Get to the airships!"

"You... You'll die… I-"

"Leave now! I'm not worth saving, not after how I treated you! Not after what I did to you! Just get out of here, you stupid Faunus! I can hold them back! You have to _trust_ me!"

Cardin fought that day. He pushed Velvet away from him, pushed her hard and brutally like a bully would do. Shoved her to the ground and away from the Grimm. He remembered when the Nevermore had taken his eye.

"Araaaugh! I'm not done here! Come and get me!", Cardin roared. He remembered how Jaune had saved his life, how personal feelings didn't matter when someone's life was at stake. He fought as a Huntsman. He remembered every blow and the damage it did to his armor and his body. He was back there, in the carnage, during the Fall of Beacon.

He remembered seeing Velvet running away in fear after she'd seen the Grimm maim him. He remembered what that time was like and how he never wanted anyone to feel that way again. He knew what his purpose was. And he remembered meeting Pickles in the infirmary when the other doctors had told him he wouldn't survive his injuries. It was a time long passed and a memory that he would never let go of.

X X X

"Cardie? It's all in the past now. We have our children now. They can only grow up to become what you never got to be.", Pickles mused. Cardin was still lost in his memories. Time had a way of changing who you were. And sometimes it was painful to look back upon those times. Especially the times that changed you.

XXXXX

Elsewhere…

XXXXX

A Scroll rang in an office, high above Vale. The clockwork gears had been restored and clicked away softly in the background. Glynda Goodwitch sighed and picked up her Scroll, her demeanor changing immediately as she recognized the number.

"James!?"

"Glynda… Oh my gods. It's you… I saw the news reports, I'm so glad you're still here… I'm so lost right now. I… I just learned Ozpin's secret… Salem…", Ironwood sighed.

"Ozpin has always had his secrets. He did tell me a great deal more, for some reason. I'm thinking he didn't know we knew each-other they way we did. And he had some kind of _thing_ for me. I'm aware of Salem's condition.", Goodwitch stated. A long drawn out sigh was the initial response from her caller.

"You know, then…"

"Of course I do. That's why our initiation trials were so much harder at Beacon. We needed to train the best to think of ways out of an unwinnable situation. I do believe our most recent _graduates_ are the ones to do this, James.", Glynda mused.

"Really? That Arc boy is a little… Unhinged."

"He is, but his head and heart are in the right places. He has a plan. I would consider your people first. _Fate_ has a strange way of working in your favor.", Goodwitch mused.

"I understand… Glynda, when will we see each-other again?", Ironwood asked.

"The Vytal Festival. I sent you an e-mail. I hope you'll make an appearance this year. Everyone is expecting you."

"Ha! I'll attend. I'll prepare a speech and everything."

"You don't need to. Just show up. Just for the opening ceremony. Then you can go back to your boring job as _General_. And James I'm waiting for you…", Glynda Goodwitch concluded.

XXXXX

Back In Atlas…

XXXXX

The massive campaign party of Schnee supporters and other nobles still raged onward. Jacques Schnee had the attention of the entire room. He was rambling again, a well-known business man and Scroll-Net host, talking about how his biased feelings towards how Mantle was being treated seemed to affect the rest of the Kingdom. He rambled onward, seeming to point fingers at the Faunus from Menagerie who immigrated to Atlas in search of jobs. He pointed fingers at all of those who weren't Atlas natives. For a man who had lived his entire life with a platinum spoon in his mouth, he didn't seem to understand how Mantle and Atlas worked together, and only seemed focused on how much money he could make from his election. The crowd was halfway-biased with and against him. The nobles liked the idea of more money and reduced taxes, the working class liked the idea of less immigration and more jobs, the ones who actually had a brain realized that Jacques was talking out of his ass.

Jacques Schnee's microphone cut out suddenly, his own voice being replaced with an electronically modified one.

"Do not listen to this farce. He knows not of what Mantle needs. He only cares from himself, what with his golf-courses and luxuries. I would not vote for him. Jacques Schnee only cares for his fortunes. He will make Atlas worse…"

"Who!? Who dares oppose me at my own ball!?", Jacques raged.

"You needn't know. You shall never see the mouth of the beast. It shall swallow you whole…"

"Who are you!?", Jacques screamed to the heavens. Nobody responded to him. "Guards! Find whoever that was!"

The Schnee ballroom was suddenly in chaos as SDC guards began to barricade the room. No way in or out, everyone would be checked. Klein still walked his usual path around the room and continued to serve drinks despite the sudden interruption. Within a few more moments, Jacques Schnee had taken his personal guard up to the VIP level of his ballroom and mansion. With only his guards and the most trusted nobles around him, whoever was trying to interrupt his election celebration would think twice.

Far down below, in the main ballroom, SDC guards began to scan ID cards of every attendant. They worked methodically as they attempted to route out the interloper. Klein slowly made his way upstairs into the VIP lounge to continue his duty. A single glass stood out from the others on the tray he carried. A special gift for the man who he called 'master'.

XXXXX

Back in a loud and crazy pub in the working class district of Mantle, a bluish-haired woman stumbled back into the fray ad slumped down at the table next to her companions. Robin Hill looked a little concerned.

"What happened to you!?", Hill asked in shock.

"Nothing. I tripped and fell. On a dagger. Repeatedly.", May noted.

"Really?"

"No. The one in white is gone. She works for _Fate_ itself, or so she says. I lost track of her. Her Semblance is strong and her skills are beyond anything I've seen from a Huntsman team. Something's not right here. Why would an assassin travel with those losers?", May inquired, taking note of the remainder of Team ATAK that seemed to be more focused on getting highly inebriated at this time.

"Hmf. Only time will tell. I can only hope she doesn't interfere with out plans…", Robin Hill concluded.

Across the bar, Team MRJJ's Rhames Greyblood had stepped out for a moment. Jonk and Javelin argued with their other teammate, Minstrel. Another group of hapless idiots. Heroes of another story in more ways than one.

X

Outside the raucous pub, Rhames Greyblood watered the local flora with urine. He pondered idly why none of the other men had decided to wear kilts. His was working just fine, even better than pants! There was nothing to unzip or tuck away, he could pee as freely as the birds could fly. A loud argument behind him pulled his attention for a moment.

"Here! Here is where the steam pipes converge! This was an old blacksmith's shop in ancient Mantle! Undoubtedly, it has the connection we need!", a male voice announced.

"I doubt, that. This is like, the third or fourth one. You've been locked out of every single one. Do you even know what you're, doing Watts?", an exasperated female voice noted.

"Ehh, it could be worse. We could've been turned inside out by that Arden dude. Or even better, run into those Huntsmen again!"

"Shut up, Mercury!"

Upon hearing their voices, Rhames turned around the corner and took immediate notice of the Emerald and Mercury alongside a confused looking man with a moustache. He'd seen them before… Back at Haven… Right... He slid his signet ring on sliently. If they were here, then…

Emerald barely had time to dodge out of the way. She nearly got a very abrupt tracheotomy as a diamond sword lanced past her head. Mercury took an evasive stance before realizing who was also in the alleyway with him. A large man with dark bronze hair and oddly glowing eyes. He sighed heavily.

"You…", Rhames growled.

"Us! Yes! We're uh… Here to join you?", Emerald stammered. Her Semblance wasn't working for some reason. She began to back up.

"Why are you here!?", Rhames roared, his Semblance amplified by his signet ring. Loud footsteps from inside the bar heralded the arrival of the rest of Team MRJJ.

"We… We're looking for you. We realized the error of our ways and we truly wish to join you!", Emerald reiterated as she felt the cold stone of a brick wall behind her. They were a few blocks from Haephestus' Pub right now, and in a dead end. A few bins and a skip were the only things within reach and one of them would help right now. Later, the bins and the skip would be filled with their remains.

"Liar!", Rhames roared, his rage also amplified by his signet ring. He felt him humanity slowly begin to slip away and struggled to hold onto it. He thought of Yang and Adam for a moment.

A diamond sword whipped sideways, glancing off of Mercury's new metal feet and throwing the moody boy to he ground.

"Watts! Do something! Use your Semblance!", Mercury cried.

Watts, having no idea who these people were or what to do, just held his laptop up to shield himself. The small custom computer was immediately bisected by the same diamond sword that threatened them. It fell to the ground in two pieces just like his own body would soon do.

"Uhh…", Watts gasped.

Emerald and Mercury quickly became aware of how badly they were outnumbered. A massive giant of a man held a morning-star, an angry man in a blue hoodie stared at them in rage and no less than five pigeon Faunus pointed at them mockingly.

"Um. Please don't kill us?", Emerald whimpered as Rhames Greyblood, the Prince of Madness himself simply walked over to them.

Rhames just grabbed Emerald and Mercury by the throats and lifted them into the air. He slammed their two heads together and knocked both of them out, the two minions landing in a dazed heap. Just behind him, Javelin Green and his clones had finished kicking and punching Watts into unconsciousness.

"What now?", Jonk asked.

"Take them. Ironwood will want to have a word.", Rhames glared, his eyes still glowing an icy hatred.

Team MRJJ collected their prone and beaten adversaries. Rhames hadn't killed them horribly, which was a genuine surprise. Right now, if it had been earlier in their travels, he would've been thinking of interesting things to make from their bones and how their organs could've been repurposed into useful items. Perhaps the Madness that lived inside Rhames had subsided. It did seem like the man was on a 'Murder Break'.

"Those who feed on carrion will feast for a fortnight upon the ones that oppose the king and his queen. Shame they will never see the beast as it swallows them whole. But we shall let them live in their filth until they beg for the forgiveness that only death can bring.", Rhames rambled.

Or… Perhaps not. Perhaps Madness was in his DNA. Team MRJJ just shrugged and grabbed the three idiots and hauled them off towards the air-tram that lead to Atlas. Ironwood would be very surprised.

**Chapter End. Hiatus sucks.**


End file.
